By Mario Montalvo/ne news editor
Five NE Cisco Networking Academy students placed in the top 10 of the Cisco Netriders regional competition against students from across Texas.
The competition gives students the opportunity to win cash and other prizes and showcase their networking and information technology skills in front of industry recruiters.
David Edes, Zachary Hayden, Phi Le, Caothang Tran and Jessey Welch were among the five that placed in the competition. This is the third year that students have represented TCC in the competition, which consisted of a series of online exams and network simulations. The contest comprises three rounds: a qualifying phase, a state/provincial phase and the U.S./Canada finale.
The four North American students with the highest scores receive an all-expense-paid study trip to Silicon Valley. Fifth through 10th place winners receive Visa gift cards.
All five students made it through the qualifying phase where they competed against students from other local colleges for places in the state competition. TCC placed first in state the previous two years but did not win this year.
This was NE student Zachary Hayden’s second year competing. Despite having to answer 100 questions in 60 minutes, the first round wasn’t too stressful, he said. It was just long and a little tiring.
Hayden prepared for the competition by reviewing all four Cisco Discovery courses and some different Cisco courses, he said.
“Netriders in itself was an experience,” he said. “I learned a lot of new material as well as reviewed most of the old material.”
Computer science assistant professor Neil Brooks said more than 100 students competed to represent Texas, but only one spot exists.
“We didn’t win state this year,” he said. “But we had five people in the top 10, which is more than any other college in the state of Texas.”
First-time competitor and NE student Dave Edes placed second in state in round one and third in round two. Only the first-place winner in round two can move on to the U.S./Canada finale, he said.
For Edes, the competition was not stressful, but finding time to study for school and the competition was, he said.
“The Cisco Network Academy and my instructors, especially Neil Brooks, were instrumental in my success,” he said. “The CCNA program at TCC does a great job getting you prepared. It also doesn’t hurt to study, study and then study a little more.”
Other colleges that placed in the state competition were Coastal Bend College of Beeville, Victoria College of Victoria and Del Mar College of Corpus Christi, which produced the state winner.
