(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Ten students in the Cybersecurity program at Texas State Technical College’s Harlingen campus are preparing to compete in the National Cyber League (NCL) event. They are collaborating with the college’s Drafting and Design program to utilize a key resource that is essential for their preparation: graphics cards.
Armando Barrera, Ricardo De Leon Jr., Gabriel Garcia, Luke Garcia, Andres Gonzalez, Starla Mendoza, Joaquin Morales, David Murillo, Jacob Ramirez and Ava Schroeder will represent TSTC during the virtual competition. The individual game is scheduled for Oct. 25-27, and a team game is scheduled for Nov. 8-10, each at TSTC’s Harlingen campus.
Samuel Pizano is a Drafting and Design instructor.
“The graphics cards we have will allow Cybersecurity students to perform at an optimal level to crack a password,” he said. “Some of their students are currently using our labs for their training.”
De Leon, of Harlingen, said he wanted to be part of a team that could hold its own against those from other top schools.
“My personal goal for our team is to rank in the top 100,” he said.
Mendoza, of Harlingen, said this is her first time preparing for the event.
“My classmates influenced me to try it,” she said. “What I enjoy is that the competition gives a student real-world experience that they won’t get in their classes. The main category I’m competing in is Password Cracking, followed by Forensics and Network Traffic Analysis.”
The NCL, powered by Cyber Skyline, is a virtual and learning-centered cybersecurity competition. Its mission is to build pathways for students that will lead to successful career placement within the cybersecurity field.
Open to U.S. high school and college students, the NCL competition provides students with hands-on experience solving real-world cybersecurity challenges. Students virtually perform tasks such as auditing vulnerable websites, identifying breaches from forensic data, and more.
Emily Kalandranis is director of development and partnerships for Cyber Skyline.
“Students who participate in the NCL gain practical experience solving real-world challenges and earn a scouting report that provides evidence of their capabilities to potential employers,” she said.
Registration for TSTC’s spring semester begins Oct. 28. To learn more, visit tstc.edu.
