Laura Dubon, ‘24 BA

I began my career as an undesignated sailor working with Boatswain's Mates on board the USS Gunston Hall. I stayed on this vessel and deployed throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East under Operation Enduring Freedom for 10 months. After two years, I struck out of undesignated, and became an Operations Specialist. Then, I transferred to the USS Harry S Truman, where I again deployed through the Mediterranean and Middle East for 9 months under Operation Inherent Resolve. After this, I received orders to convert my rate from Operations Specialist to Cryptologic Analyst - Interpretive. I spent a year in California studying Russian before I transferred to Ft Meade, MD, and worked as a Russian Language Analyst. I stayed in Ft. Meade until my retirement in 2022. My favorite class from my degree plan would be OGL340 - Artificial Intelligence: The Human Side. The texts we read were insightful, and got me to think about the positive and negative impacts AI has on our world today, and the possible impacts it will have in the future. It opened my eyes, so to speak, and I view technology and AI in a completely different way than I did previously. Since graduating from ASU in 2024, I have spent a year teaching 8th-grade special education Science and English in Maryland, an experience that has taught me much about the younger generation and teaching in general. When I'm not teaching, I'm studying Spanish or crafting. I love to crochet, build models, and cross-stitch, and I have recently discovered felting. My husband was also in the Navy and left service this year to pursue his own college journey in Psychology. The two of us, along with our adorably grumpy cat Circe, are continuously learning from our academics and each other and plan to take our skills abroad to Spain in 2026, where we will live for a year. For me, success is the ability to persevere. There are many intelligent people in this world, but it's hard work and commitment that make a person an invaluable asset to an organization and a catalyst for change in our society.