I never expected to spend a few months learning quantum computing.
The workshop series leading up to this competition was completely outside my usual interests. I’m a CS student slash aspiring SWE. Quantum computing felt much closer to physics and mathematics than anything I normally worked on.
I wasn’t even the most diligent attendee. I missed sessions here and there, fell behind at times, and never even got the certificate.
But I still wanted to see if I could do it.
A different kind of problem
Most CTFs I’ve joined revolve around things I’m already somewhat familiar with like web security (see my first CTF).
This one introduced a Classical-Quantum category, so while my teammates focused on the traditional cybersecurity challenges, I spent most of my time working through quantum circuits and quantum gates.
The problems felt less like programming and more like solving math puzzles. There wasn’t much code to write. Most of the work was understanding how a circuit behaved and reasoning about the final result.
Learning transfers more than you think
Even though quantum computing was completely new to me, I wasn’t really starting from zero.
I already had the foundations from CS. Python, algorithms, and yes, even the Calculus classes we all complained about.
What changed was the domain, not the way of thinking. Software engineering already taught me to break down problems, test assumptions, recognize patterns, and keep iterating until something clicks.
Quantum computing was different, but that mindset still carried over.
Solving as a team
The competition only lasted three hours, so our team divided the categories between us. If someone got stuck, we’d rotate or work through a challenge together.
By the end of the competition, our team finished first in the Visayas regional leaderboard and won the regional leg of what was the Philippines’ first quantum-themed CTF.
Staying curious
I’m not planning to switch careers and become a quantum computing researcher.
That was never the point.
The point is that software engineering doesn’t have to be a box you stay inside. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is spend time learning something that has nothing to do with your day-to-day work.
Maybe you’ll never use it again.
Or maybe, like this competition, you’ll discover that the hardest part wasn’t learning quantum computing.
It was convincing yourself to try.
How it turned out
Champion (1st Place) - 165 team points, 65 individual points
