I will likely be working on the remake of this website less consistently while Cyberstart America is live, so that I can focus more on Cyberstart.

PicoCTF

I made this website just a few days after picoCTF 2022 competition ended. This year, my team scored 4900 points and placed 207th for US high schools, and we were a team of two. Last year, my team placed 4th for US middle schools as a team of four. I knew that this year I was competing against people with three or four more years of experience than I have this year, but I still hoped that my team could place in the top US 100. I’m not disappointed with this year’s results though, because I know I did my best and also for other reasons I can’t put into words. I feel like this is just a step further toward success in cybersecurity.

My next step: Cyberstart America

Two years ago, I participated in Girls Go Cyberstart as part of my advanced programming class and I wasn’t particularly successful. Only last year did I begin to get competitive and gain a greater interest in cybersecurity. It seems that this year, that competition has merged into a larger national one: Cyberstart America. I got an email from PicoCTF promoting this competition, and the scholarship oppurtunities from this competition caught my eye. I was disappointed to find out that I’m not elligible for the scholarship awards, but I’m going to compete anyway, and strive to earn a title.

“picoCTF players who scored over 1000, but do not meet the eligibility criteria for a scholarship award, may still be awarded National Cyber Scholarship Semifinalist status, which includes a digital badge for your resume”

The end date of this competition is April 27th.

Further investigaton:

I started researching Cyberstart, and also found out about a lot of other CTFs. I’m not elligible for most of those yet, but I’m going to keep an open mind to scholarship oppurtunities and chances to participate in a CTF or learn cybersecurirty in general.

Conclusion

I have already solved a couple challenges for Cyberstart America, and I’m going to do my best. I think this will be good practice, and it will help diversify my experience (PicoCTF is great, but its not good if I only compete in PicoCTF).