Page 24 - Cybersecurity Career Guide for North Dakota

camps, competitions and more
24 START-ENGINEERING.COM
Ways to Get Involved
Look for online and IRL competitions, camps, and other activities. They’re fun, don’t require prior knowledge of cybersecurity, and teach real skills.
Both learning and fun can be had at cybersecurity compe- titions and camps. And when you’re done, the technical skills and teamwork experience you gain from partici- pating will have community colleges, universities, the military, and employers taking a serious interest in your good time. Major government agencies and private-sector companies collabo- rate to sponsor competitions and finan-
and mentors. Find those near you using the GenCyber website (gencyber.com) and check out the video. With GenCyber, you can’t beat the scope or the price—thank you, NSA and National Science Foundation.
CyberPatriot Competition
Created by the Air Force Association and sponsored by major cybersecurity companies and government agencies, CyberPa- triot challenges teams of students to keep a virtual IT system functioning while finding operating flaws and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. As Tamara Shoemaker, founder of the Michigan CyberPatriot program, says, “The CyberPatriot program reaches
students where they are with competition and games! It facilitates creative
thinking, teamwork, and hands-on
project-based learning while instilling sound judgment and
ethics. Best of all, the CyberPatriot pro-
gram is inclusive, with three levels of play, and
not expensive to run.” With thousands of teams in all
50 states, you should be able to find a team nearby. There are three divisions: Middle School, Open High School, and All Service. While the All Service Division is limited to JROTC and other cadet corps
teams, the Middle and High school divi- sions are open—teams may include home-
schooled students, Girl or Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, or other youth groups. Teams are
cially support student participation, so playing games can lead to finding schol- arships, internships, and mentors. In fact, says Kammy Sanghera, Executive Director of STEM Outreach at George Mason University, that is just what
the sponsors intend.
GenCyber Camps
Clockwise from top right: Cyber camp at University of Texas, Austin, and GenCyber camps at Coastline College in Fountain Valley, CA, and Harford Community College in Bel Air, MD.
Offered at over 120
locations in 38 states
(plus D.C. and
Puerto Rico) in 2019,
these FREE camps
are open to middle
and high school stu-
dents and teachers,
regardless of experience,
and are hosted by public and
private schools as well as col-
leges and universities. Each is a unique, week-long residential program. Camps
can have different kinds of specific ob- jectives, but all are designed to grow
and spread campers’ knowledge of cybersecurity and careers and build up
skills and awareness of safe online prac-
tices. In addition to having a great time, par- ticipants can develop their networks of friends