Barstow’s CyberPatriots Club has spent the last four months working on their coding, electrical defense, and computer skills. The club is one of the most consistent ones in the school, meeting regularly to plan and prepare for competitions. The two competitions the club competed in this season also required heavy commitment. Competitions spanned across weekends, usually lasting 4-6 hours. Despite certain challenges, the team has learned a lot and improved their techniques this season.
“I think we had a good team,” said team member Sina Asheghalishahi ‘23. “We had good members who were devoted and committed. We lost Grayson Martin, who was really good [at CyberPatriots], but we gained a lot of other people.”
Many people signed up for CyberPatriots at the Club Fair, and the team started with 17 members. However, the team eventually whittled down to 9 consistent members. Team members’ experience with CyberPatriots was varied, but most take STEM-focused courses like AP Physics, advanced math, and AP Computer Science.
These courses provide a good basis of knowledge for team members as CyberPatriots is centered around computer science and STEM strategies. The competitions require creating solutions to eliminate simulated cybercrimes and improve cybersecurity in the workforce. The organization increases student awareness and educates them on cybercrime. Involvement in this club prepares students for careers in cybersecurity but also improves general leadership, collaboration, and delegation skills.
The club also fosters creative thinking. This has helped the team in overcoming both logistical and mechanical obstacles. In one competition, the team struggled to solve ciphers on operating system Linux.
“We got stuck at one point by accidentally doing something to the operating system and spending a long time fixing our own mistakes before we were able to continue with the competition,” said team member Anders Hwang ‘23. “Linux is definitely our weak point…it’s all a learning curve.”
However, the team was able to figure out another approach to the operating system by the next competition.
At the first competition of the season in November, the club faced the first round of CyberPatriots. Overall, they scored 220 out of 300 points. They advanced to the second round later that month. Hwang explained that they admittedly underperformed a bit. However, in both competitions they gained useful knowledge. At their last competition in December, they faced severe problems with operating system Windows’ settings and its control panel. It seemed like something was locking the team out of all settings, resulting in a lower scoring.
Although the team did not make it to the State round this season, the members still had a great time working together.
“I like the chillness of it,” said Asheghalisahi. “We solve computer problems and have dinner together.”
The team is looking forward to the next season and are excited to use the knowledge they gained this year in the future. If you are interested in CyberPatriots, you can contact Hwang or Mr. Daniels. Congratulations on a solid season CyberPatriots!
