[VIDEO] EGHS Freshman 2nd In State In Cyber-Security Challenge

The surprise unfolded before an unsuspecting class of Mr. Rath's Honors Biology students: a parade of adults poured into the lab room, two of them known to at least one of the students: Julian Wu.

That's because they were Julian's parents, Wei Liang and Yao Bian Wu. The entourage came with U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, who was there to award Julian for having placed second in the state in a national cyber-security challenge, and 34th in the country.

Students who competed in the contest, which was administered in Rhode Island by New England Tech and McCabe Software, did so completely independent of school. 

According to Langevin, the hope is that students who get involved will give some consideration to making a career in cyber security, a particular area of focus for Langevin.

Julian responded to the hoopla with a sheepish smile and a casualness befitting a teen in front of his peers. Along with the actual award came a $2,000 scholarship from New England Tech and a check for $500 from McCabe Software to use as he wished. 

Afterwards, Julian (whose Chinese name is Xiao Yi) wrote this in an email about the challenge:

When my parents first mentioned the Cyber Foundations competition to me, I didn't think too much about it. When I just started learning about Cyber, my main focus was only on learning about technology, because we are living in such an advanced technological world. I didn't really take this competition really seriously, sometimes even playing piano earlier the day of the test. While learning about Cyber, it suddenly started to become very interesting to me. I would have never expected to come in 2nd in Rhode Island, this year being only my first year and as a freshmen in high school. However, when taking each test, the results came out pretty well! I definitely learned so much about networking, and cyber security. I would have never thought such a topic could be so fascinating. This wasn't easy to take part of though. I was very busy during the time of the tests, qualifying with All-State Symphonic and Jazz Band, working on the Carnegie Hall Achievement Program, and competing on the Math Team. I was actually very close to giving up, due to the lack of time and sleep. But by the encouragement of my parents and my older brother, I continued learning, and I'm glad I did!