When Buddy Watson was in eighth grade in rural Slapout, Alabama, a coding instructor overheard him talking about his passion for engineering and mentioned something that would change his life: a new cyber and engineering school opening in Huntsville.
That school, the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE), is the nation’s first public high school devoted entirely to cyber technology and engineering, and Watson was part of its inaugural freshman class.
“I didn’t sleep for probably 72 hours—do I follow my dream and take a risk, or do I stay comfortable in what I know?” Watson recalled about his decision to attend the residential school during the uncertainty of COVID-19…