CyberPatriot 2023 | State Round

Nerves and excitement fill the room this morning as the State Round is officially here! Students come prepared with notebooks in hand and hopeful attitudes. The guarantee of semi-finals for teams depends on their performance today. Immediately, teams are prepared to apply their knowledge, trying their best to gain maximum points on Windows, Packet Tracer, and Linux. Within the first hour, points begin to roll in. Students’ stress rises as they begin to hit walls and realize the increased level of difficulty State presents.

The last hour approaches and students begin to lose hope in their ability to gain points. Mr. Smith consistently reminds them that ALL POINTS MATTER and walls can be broken even within the last 30 minutes. Students remember that any points are good points. Breaks improve students’ ability to identify bugs in their system; taking a step away from the computer can provide a fresh view of the image. Packet Tracers begin to be submitted within the last 30 minutes and walls begin to be broken! In the last 15 minutes, students take a last look over their results and shut down their systems. In the end, hard work was applied and all students made their best effort to enter the semi-finals. Congratulations to all competing students and their astounding efforts throughout the year. The results of the State Round will be released in the next few weeks.