Hi, Hounds! This week on Highlighting Hounds, we are featuring Lucas Audette ’26. Lucas has shown a remarkable commitment to both his academic and extracurricular pursuits during his time at Assumption University. His involvement spans across a wide range of campus organizations, from the Assumption Chorale and Hound Sound A Capella Group to leadership roles in the Cybersecurity Club and Greyhound Theater. Lucas’s dedication to fostering community engagement is evident in his work as a summer orientation leader and his involvement in Assumption’s esports and cybersecurity initiatives. Throughout his diverse roles, he has honed critical teamwork, communication, and leadership skills, all of which have shaped his perspective on collaboration. As he moves forward, Lucas is eager to apply these experiences to his career goals, particularly in the field of cybersecurity, where he is already laying the groundwork for his own business, Protecly. Read more to learn how his time at Assumption has not only prepared him for his upcoming internship at Veracode, but also instilled valuable lessons that he plans to carry with him into his professional future.
Give a brief overview of your campus involvement and impact on the Assumption community.
I have been involved in several Campus positions. Beginning my freshman year spring semester, I became a member of the Assumption University Chorale and continued my musical background further. Over the summer from freshman year into sophomore year, I was a summer orientation leader. As the fall came of my sophomore year, I continued this role as a fall orientation leader. I then became a member of Hound Sound a cappella group and began commentating for the Assumption Esports team. In the spring, I became a member of the Assumption Cybersecurity Club as a member and next year, I will take on the role as the president. Over the summer Sophomore year into Junior year, I studied abroad in Rome. Last semester, I began working in the Help Desk as a Help Desk assistant. This spring, I was on the leadership team for Assumption’s New club, Greyhound Theater.
What inspired you to become so involved, and how did you obtain these positions?
Everybody that I have talked to in my transition into Assumption has always expressed how important it is to get involved on campus. While I knew I was going to get involved before coming here, I didn’t realize how right they were. Getting involved on campus has allowed me to reach out to various communities on campus that I express interest in, and through these groups, I have made some of my closest friends.
How have your roles in both the Assumption Chorale and Hound Sound A Capella group shaped your ability to work in teams and collaborate creatively?
My roles in both Assumption Chorale and Hound Sound have shaped my communication skills to a degree of learning how to work together in a group efficiently. Essentially, there are 4 main vocal parts that need to be formed into one voice.
What are your career goals? How will your experiences help you reach those goals?
My Career goal is to eventually end up operating my own cybersecurity business. Right now, I am already working on a venture called Protecly with my friend, and it is a company that aims to centralize cybersecurity. Outside of being a business owner, I want to become a Security analyst and find other side ventures within cybersecurity as well. I also want to create YouTube content eventually due to my creative mindset within video production and become a figure within the cybersecurity space.
Looking ahead to your term as President of the Cybersecurity Club, what are the biggest changes or initiatives you hope to implement during your presidency?
As my Presidency within the cybersecurity club comes up soon, I am looking forward to collaborating with my team and coming up with ideas that will shape the club for a better future. This past year, the Cybersecurity club took a great turn within the content structure, and my goal for next year is to bring back numbers to the club and come up with events that people will find interesting.
How has participating in diverse activities—like theater, music, esports, and cybersecurity—helped shape your perspective on teamwork and community engagement?
Throughout these activities, I learned how to strengthen my public speaking, talking with large crowds, and how to manage tasks. It’s not easy to put together a production or learn a tough piece of music; those take time, and the end product is what you are working towards.
What are your key takeaways from your experience?
Overall, the biggest takeaway I have learned is how to have a proper communication and teamwork structure. Across all of my activities, this seems to be the one common theme that sticks around, and since I have prior experience with this trait, I am well equipped to handle tough challenges in the years to come
What are you looking forward to the most about starting your internship at Veracode, and what are you hoping to learn during your time there?
I am excited to dive into hands-on work within my field. After learning the theory, I am now able to put the skills necessary into practice to ensure that my work is carried out to a high standard. While working at Veracode, I am looking forward to learning hands-on what it takes to work within the field of Information Security and bring a positive impact to the team.
What do you see as the biggest challenge when transitioning from classroom learning to a real-world cybersecurity internship, and how do you plan to overcome it?
A lot of what we learn in class is valuable, but with the knowledge gaps from previous semesters to the actual internship, it may be challenging to recall everything necessary. The best way to navigate this is by keeping your skills sharpened. Don’t let your knowledge be dulled down over time. Look at online cybersecurity courses to keep your skills sharpened, and you may also learn something that you didn’t touch on in class.
How do you plan to carry the skills and lessons you’ve learned at Assumption into your future career or academic goals?
I plan to remember all of the experiences that I had at Assumption and think back to how I handled challenging tasks. After recalling what I did to get through a tough spot, I will be able to apply these skills further to combat and get past situations. Furthermore, the skills that I have learned from Assumption have already prepared me well for a job within the cybersecurity space, and the skills I need to brush up on, I will be able to do online through cybersecurity training platforms
Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in your leadership roles, or any lessons you wish you had learned sooner?
Overall, I don’t think I have too many regrets within my leadership roles; everything that I have done has seemed to come at the right time, and I wouldn’t expedite or change anything that I have participated in.
If you are interested in being featured on Highlighting Hounds or know of any students who would be a strong candidate, please email us at careerdevelopment@assumption.edu!
