{"id":405645,"date":"2026-09-20T20:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405645\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T20:10:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:10:34","slug":"jacksonville-man-lands-six-figure-cybersecurity-career-after-skipping-four-year-education-bypassing-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/405645\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville man lands six-figure cybersecurity career after skipping four-year education | Bypassing Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tony Washington believes he saved almost $30,000 in student debt by going the path of a community college education at FSCJ. Now, he’s landed his dream job.<\/p>\n

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Before many students even graduate from high school, they’re already imagining themselves as Gators, Seminoles, Bulldogs or alumni of another traditional four-year university.<\/p>\n

But a growing number of young adults are choosing a different path \u2014 one that gets them into the workforce sooner while helping them avoid tens of thousands of dollars in college debt. They are choosing community college.<\/p>\n


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\n This story continues below. <\/p>\n

At Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ), more than 1,000 students are currently training for careers in information technology. Among them is Tony Washington, who says bypassing the traditional university experience was one of the best decisions he ever made.<\/p>\n

“I’m currently a cybersecurity specialist for the Defense Department and the Army,” he said.<\/p>\n

When asked how much he earns today, Washington didn’t hesitate, saying he makes “well over six figures.”<\/p>\n

He says many people assumed he had graduated from a major university.<\/p>\n

“They thought I graduated from FAMU or some people thought I went to UNF, or even the University of Florida.”<\/p>\n

Like many students, Washington says he felt pressure to follow the traditional four-year college path and was “caught up in the hype.”<\/p>\n

Instead, he chose FSCJ, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management along with an associate degree. He estimates that decision also saved him approximately $29,000.<\/p>\n

Washington credits his education at FSCJ with helping him qualify for the job he has today. But he says the smaller learning environment also gave him something even more valuable \u2014 a second chance.<\/p>\n

Before college, Washington was a standout track athlete at Raines High School in Jacksonville. Many believed he was destined for the Olympics.<\/p>\n

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Instead, his life took a heartbreaking turn. He tore a hamstring, and later his brother, Tim \u2014 whom he calls his inspiration \u2014 was murdered.<\/p>\n

Washington says that at that time, he “hit rock bottom.” At his lowest point, Washington says he attempted to take his own life.<\/p>\n

Today, Washington believes God spared his life, citing “divine intervention.”<\/p>\n

Even then, he says it was difficult watching others move forward while he felt left behind.<\/p>\n

“I’m watching everybody else get master’s and PhD’s and having families, and I’m still sitting on square one,” Washington said. “No education whatsoever.”<\/p>\n

Then friends encouraged him to consider a different path, leading to FSCJ. He enrolled at age 35.<\/p>\n

Dr. Cedrick Gibson, Associate Vice President at FSCJ, says Washington’s journey reflects many of the students attending the college today.<\/p>\n

Gibson says information technology programs continue to be in high demand as employers look for skilled workers.<\/p>\n

To qualify for his current position, Washington had to earn a Defense Department-approved certification. He credits the two years he spent studying IT security at FSCJ with helping him reach that goal.<\/p>\n

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“I would say it’s the best kept secret,” Washington said.<\/p>\n

FSCJ President Dr. John Avendano says the college is working to change that perception. \u00a0He wants to shed the “secret.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t know how you keep an institution that serves 47,000 students a year a secret… but we are,” Avendano said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tony Washington believes he saved almost $30,000 in student debt by going the path of a community college…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-405645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}