WELL! I am officially GFACT certified! It's been about a month or two in the making, so I'm proud of myself! It all started with CyberStart America. I was completely mesmerized by the concept of the game, and overall, I got around 120,000+ points by the (premature) end of the game. Sadly, CyberStart America had to shut down, so this was the first and only year I'll ever have to enjoy the service. However, through the effort, I was able to secure a scholarship for the SANS SEC275 course! I practically speedran through the whole thing, watching video after video, practicing lab after lab, it was awesome. Although I'm overall familiar with the concepts covered, I still learned a lot of pratical knowledge and skills throughout the course, and I am really grateful for that. I finished the entirety of the course around last week, and I just wanted to get the test over with so I could be certified already. I sat down, read through the three 400 page books, and wrote down the important concepts in a spreadsheet as reference. Come the exam day, I was a litle nervous, but I took a deep breath and breezed through it to the best of my ability. At the end, I managed to score a 97.14%! I missed a question or two out of the 75 questions. Words can not describe how grateful I am to have a cybersecurity certification, and I can't wait to see what the future holds! I am incredibly thankful to my high school teachers who encouraged me to keep going, my middle school teachers for seeing my potential and passion, my friends for being there for me, and my parents for supporting me. Love you reader!! Love you children!!!