CyberStart America

Girls Go Cyberstart was one of the first computer science-related competitions I participated in and my first delve into cybersecurity. Still being new to programming in Java with even less experience in collaborative coding, it was a daunting task for me and my team of three other girls.

The competition was based on advancing through increasingly difficult levels and puzzles that were worth some amount of points. The site was open for 6 days; competitors were allowed to work through each of the different sections on their own time. At the time, some of my team members were much more familiar with coding and programming itself, while I was still freshly interested in cryptography. Thus, the beginning of the tournament, I was tasked with mostly such; solving ciphers and cracking encoded messages on the sites provided. As days went on, I was able to become familiar with Java as well as Python through sheer exposure. Being able to rely on my other, older team members in areas where I fell short, and them relying on me for the certain puzzles they can’t crack worked like a lovely harmony of sorts. It was a great opportunity to experience first-hand the closeset example of working in a security-oriented company, albeit on a time crunch.

We had joined this competition on a whim, it was the first year that Girls Go CyberStart launched, and we thought it would be a fun thing to try. We did not expect to earn second place, nor did we expect to be invited by the governor for congratulations. I am grateful for my team, and for everything that made it possible to have this experience. It showed me a glimpse of what my future could look like.