Breaking Out of the Ratta System: Learning Cybersecurity on My Own Terms

Studying cybersecurity at university in Pakistan comes with a unique challenge — balancing curiosity with a system built around memorization. At Air University, I quickly realized that most courses rewarded theory, structured notes, and exam performance. But cybersecurity is not a field that can be mastered through rote learning alone. It demands experimentation, mistakes, and curiosity.

For a long time, I struggled to fit into that academic rhythm. While lectures were focused on slides and definitions, I wanted to see what really happened inside a network — how attacks looked in real time, how systems reacted, and how defenses were built. The “ratta” culture pushed for repetition and grades, but I found myself more drawn to labs, virtual machines, and experiments after hours.

Late nights became my classroom. I built small networks, installed and broke firewalls, and ran test scans just to see what would happen. Sometimes things crashed, sometimes I couldn’t fix what I broke, but every mistake taught me something new. I realized that the best lessons didn’t come from textbooks — they came from curiosity and persistence.

It wasn’t easy balancing both worlds. There were exams to pass, assignments to submit, and group projects to complete, all while pursuing my self-learning path. At times, it meant sacrificing sleep or taking lower grades, but the trade-off was worth it. I began understanding cybersecurity not just as a subject, but as a mindset — one built on observation, creativity, and patience.

Over time, this approach started to make sense. Concepts from class that once felt abstract began connecting with my practical experience. I could visualize attacks, understand vulnerabilities, and reason through how to defend them. That blend of theory and hands-on learning gave me a sense of confidence that pure memorization never could.

Looking back, breaking out of the rote system wasn’t about rejecting education — it was about redefining how I learned. The structure of university gave me the foundation, but the curiosity I pursued outside it gave me the skill. Together, they shaped my journey toward becoming a cybersecurity professional who learns by doing, not just by remembering.