The Land of Zion

The academic year flew by. If you’re a college student you know what I mean. If you’re not, you probably also know what I mean. When you get physically, emotionally, and sometimes spiritually, involved in your work, you tend to lose track of time. I’ve been really slacking on writing these posts — the last time I wrote one of these was nearly a year ago after my experience at DEF CON. Since that post, I’ve traveled to another country, hacked endlessly, done 1 year’s worth of research on machine learning, lived in San Fransico, and moved in with Emma. A lot has happen, and I think a highlight reel of the major events may be warranted. So buckle up, we’re taking a speed racers approach to a stroll down Memory Lane.

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The conclusion of summer is always sad, yet enlightinig. I got to conclude my summer in a special way this year. About three weeks before I was scheduled to return to smoldering Pheonix, I got an email from the captain of my hacking team, the pwndevils, inviting me to attend DEFCON as an assistant organizer for the convention CTF.

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So I walked into homeroom, put down my bag, proceeded to stare (viciously) at the girl three seats down and began an argument with the boy next to me. He hated when I was right. I was always right, or at least that’s what I thought. I was a conceded, self-centered, debate obsessed, suit wearing, know-it-all, but at least I was not as bad as the stuck up girl three seats down. She wore a classic blue, non-wrinkled school polo and two large down staring eyes. I disliked her—hold that thought, I despised her. Luckily, she despised me. For all of you movie guessers out there, you guessed it—her name was Emma.

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