Maryvale Senior Wins Full Ride to Gannon in Hackathon Competition
Maryvale High School senior Alyssa MacLefko hopes to work in the network security field one day, and that aspiration got a major boost when she won Gannon University’s Hackathon Cybersecurity Competition.
As the top prize for the event, Alyssa received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Gannon, where she plans on going in the fall to major in cybersecurity. She credits her time in Erie 1 BOCES’ Cybersecurity and Networking program for preparing her for the competition. The program is taught by Joseph McNamara.
“The class helped grow my interest in the topic and it gave me the foundation to be able to grasp the more complex concepts that the Gannon professors taught in their training sessions as part of the competition,” Alyssa said. “I was so excited when Gannon called me to tell me I won. I had competed last year too and finished as a top competitor. This year, I wanted to gain more hands-on experience and earn more scholarship money.”
"Alyssa is very focused and always gives her best. She is definitely driven to succeed," Mr. McNamara stated. "I believe she will do very well not only in school, but in the industry, as well."
The Hackathon consisted of a modified juice shop simulation, and Alyssa had to use SQL injections and other manipulation techniques to “hack” a virtual site. This was scored in a Capture the Flag-style method in which after each challenge, a code was unlocked.
Around 120 students competed in the hacking round of the competition, and 15 qualified to compete in the next round on Gannon’s campus in Erie, Pennsylvania. Alyssa was the only female student to qualify for the second round.
“I currently see more males interested in the field, but I do believe in the coming years, more females will start to enter the field as it grows,” Alyssa noted.
The onsite event took place in February and included a multiple-choice test similar to the certification exams in the field. Questions included topics of basic technology support, networking, security options and hacking methods.
About Erie 1 BOCES
As part of public education, Erie 1 BOCES offers a variety of career and technical programs during the regular school day to high school students in Erie County. High school students interested in learning more about how they can participate in various programs such as fashion design, web and gaming technologies, health careers or aviation technology, should visit www.e1b.org/cte or speak with their high school counselor.