As a senior in high school, I am planning to take the Security+ Exam. My goal is to be qualified for certain jobs right after graduation, so I won’t have to rely solely on a college degree. However, I’m also a dedicated athlete and want to play sports in college, which takes considerable time away from my studies. I’m looking for guidance on what to study and how to get my foot in the door in the cybersecurity field.
As an athlete you know that you practice something until you can’t fail (as opposed to most who only practice until they get it right once or twice). I would apply that same mentality toward your cybersecurity studies. Do as much hands on as you can and master every tool you learn. To that end, here is a site with 101 free labs for Security+ … CompTIA Security+ - 101Labs.net
I also recommend reading about your craft. This book is new and a decent replacement for “Security Administrator Street Smarts” which is excellent but out of date: Amazon.com