HACKING DISCORD WITH ALEX BATES
Hacking Discord with Alex Bates
In the summer of 2020, Neumont College launched a new interactive initiative called the Code Ninja Challenge to engage the incoming freshman class and give them a taste of our project-based academic model. The series of nine challenges–available to all prospective students–are a combination of Binary, Java, Python, and hacking tasks, as well fun challenges designed to help participants with the admission process. Each challenge is ranked by a belt color–inspired by the Martial Arts belt system–and reflective of the code ninja’s progress as they work towards obtaining the coveted black belt. Neumont’s initiative proved effective when Utah high school student, Alex Bates, not only found interest in the challenges, but showed true potential by infiltrating the Neumont student Discord server after completing the first challenge.
By the second challenge, those who have earned their yellow belt have gained access to the Code Ninja landing page. From there, they are instructed to contact their Admissions Officer for a special password to move onto the next challenge. Alex’s impatience got the best of him and he decided rather than wait, to analyze the webpage’s JavaScript to see if the special password could be found. On his first attempt scanning the code, he didn’t find any verbiage pertaining to completing the Binary Challenge, but he then remembered the mention of a student Discord server on the landing page. He then found “Discord” in the code with the unpublished link to the server.
Alex’s infiltration wasn’t luck but telling of his ingenuity and multitudes of talent. His interest in computer science began in 2014 at the age of 12 when his aunt, who is a web developer, encouraged him to begin coding. From there he enrolled in coding summer camps, joined a tech club, and gained an understanding of HTML, CSS, Ruby, mobile development, web development using ReactJS, and experience working in Unity for game development.
Since initially visiting Neumont College as part of his high school technology class in 2017, he knew he wanted to attend and made a point to enroll in at least one computer science class per year to prepare for our rigorous curriculum.
Looking to the future, when he begins classes at Neumont College next fall, Alex says he’s unsure of the degree he wants to pursue, but followed up with, “I plan to find something I enjoy.” He recently became interested in vintage cars and knows a degree in computer science will lead to a high-earning career1, allowing him to financially maintain older vehicles.
Currently Alex has achieved purple belt status and is well on his way to earning the coveted black belt. Like fellow code ninjas, Alex is looking forward to the Easter Egg Challenge that will be available in early 2021. Those who complete all nine tasks in the Code Ninja Dojo will win bragging rights within our Neumont community, a special color status in the student Discord server, and a surprise gift at Freshman Orientation. Achieving the black belt indicates you’re on the path to succeed at Neumont College and we encourage anyone interested in computer science to enter the Code Ninja Dojo.
We look forward to seeing Alex flourish in Neumont’s computer science program when he begins classes in the fall of 2021. Until then, let his aptitude and curiosity be an inspiration to those wanting to pursue a career in the technology field.