As I near the completion of my coding bootcamp, I am transitioning from learning core programming concepts to intentionally preparing for a specific career path. Throughout the program, I have developed a strong foundation in systems programming, scripting, and backend development through projects such as a custom Unix shell and a backend-focused Airbnb clone. This portfolio project represents an opportunity to build on those foundations while shifting my focus toward infrastructure and operational concerns that more closely align with my professional interests. My long-term goal is to pursue a DevOps-oriented role, particularly one that involves Linux administration, networking, and security. While application development is an important skill, I am more interested in understanding how software behaves once it is deployed: how it runs on real systems, how it communicates over networks, and how misconfigurations can introduce serious security risks. DevOps engineers are responsible not only for deploying systems, but also for ensuring they are secure, reliable, and maintainable. This project is intended to help me begin developing that mindset. Many of my previous projects focused primarily on application logic and functionality. While these projects were valuable, they offered limited exposure to runtime environments, infrastructure security, and operational risk. Topics such as container isolation, privilege boundaries, network exposure, and system hardening were largely abstract rather than hands-on. I recognized this as a gap in my learning and wanted a project that would allow me to explore these areas in a practical and applied way. The Container Security Sandbox is well suited to this goal because containers are a foundational technology in modern DevOps workflows. Although containers provide isolation by default, they are frequently deployed with insecure configurations that undermine those protections. This project allows me to intentionally recreate common container misconfigurations, analyze why they are dangerous, and demonstrate how they can be exploited in controlled scenarios. Just as importantly, it allows me to apply secure configuration practices and validate that those mitigations are effective. This project also enables me to apply my existing programming skills in a DevOps context. Rather than building user-facing features, I will use Bash and Python to automate environment setup, inspect container configurations, and generate security audit reports. In addition, the project requires working directly with Linux tools, container networking, and system-level security controls, reinforcing the skills that are most relevant to infrastructure-focused roles. By completing the Container Security Sandbox, I expect to gain a deeper understanding of how containers interact with the Linux kernel, how insecure configurations can lead to real vulnerabilities, and how those risks can be mitigated through proper hardening and automation. I also expect to strengthen my ability to document and communicate technical tradeoffs clearly—an essential skill for DevOps engineers working in collaborative environments. Overall, this project is a deliberate step toward building the practical, systems-oriented skill set required for a career in DevOps.