It has already been two years since I first stepped into the doors at robotics. I was unclear about my pursuance upon joining the team during my sophomore year. Watching my first robotics demo in our school gym drove me to join the following school year as I was fascinated by the huge robots and the enthusiasm of the team. I saw students of separate grade levels working together where two students operated the robot as others reset the gym. While one robot hastily shot out balls into the air with great distances, the other smoothly picked up and delivered tubes onto a rack-like obstacle. The collective efforts and energies of the robotics team gave me the impulse to join. I anticipated meeting people that were just as technologically fanatical as I am. I began on the Inventor team where I practiced drafting robot parts. Being on that team opened a new pathway for me. I realized that I passionately enjoy creating computer designs—even if it was a tedious process. I was then encouraged by our team’s advisor that I should undertake the animation competition for the following year. As a gamer and an animation enthusiast, I decided to pursue my childhood dream. That year, I progressively learned on my own with limited resources to complete the Autodesk Visualization Competition challenge. The season went by with cycles of stress and anger, but in the end, I acquired bulks of knowledge from the sweat and tears. Throughout these years, I've learned a lot in robotics. Robotics takes up so much time, but it is well worth it. So no matter how things get in robotics, my purpose is to always do my best.

I began robotics in my freshman year in high school. I first joined since my parents insisted that I try something else OTHER than math team. So I dropped math team (something I did since 7th grade) and tried robotics. In the first year, I was reluctant to go because I did not feel like I learned much. However, when the 2008 FRC season started, I discovered that robotics was something very special, something that does not exist in any old place. It was a second family, one in which I could be myself and soak in all the memories and lessons learned. As part of the media team, I was able to witness all sorts of examples of teamwork throughout this team. I was hooked to robotics the first year and stayed in robotics ever since. From the two and a half years I have been on the team, I have learned some mechanical, engineering, and especially electrical principles which could be applied in the real world. More importantly, robotics led me to understand that in order to bring an idea to fruition, one must communicate effectively and be open to other suggestions. I hope that I will be able to apply these principles and experiences to my future endeavor of becoming a doctor.

This is the first year I am on the robotics team. Joining robotics is one of the best decisions I have ever made. It showed me how hard work really does pay off. To see scraps of metal being put together and turning into a robot, one that actually functions, makes me realize those late nights, hard work, and frustration are all worth it in the end. During the VEX season, I found that I enjoyed putting the robot together. It was fun and I was able to learn how to use different tools like the digital multi meter. I had no idea what nuts, lock nuts, limit switches, etc were. After the VEX season, I realized engineering is a lot harder than I first thought.

I joined robotics because some of the new friends I made in freshmen year told me that it was really fun and I should try it. Another reason is because I wanted something to do afterschool. Usually, I just went home or hung out with my friends at fast food places.

Robotics has made me feel a lot smarter. I know and understand what most people in robotics are actually talking about now. My mind does not just draw a blank anymore. In school, we sit in desks and listen to the teacher. Honestly, that is just plain boring. In robotics, I am applying what I learn each day, and I understand better because it’s a hands-on activity. Robotics makes me feel important, that I actually have something that I can do. Another reason I feel smarter is because I actually do more homework now than I did before. Even so, my math grade has gone down. I do not really care too much about that because it just provokes me to work harder to keep my grades up, so I can stay on the team.

At the VEX competitions, I saw so many people competing and so many different designs. I felt so excited and wanted to see how far my team’s robot could go. I never thought we would be seeded first. Even though we lost, I could not wait to get back to work and fix the robot. I learned what our advantages and disadvantages were and helped my team to build a new and improved robot.

When I first signed up for the FIRST team, I never thought I would get in. Although I was not confident, I still went to my interview and did the best I could. I was so elated to find out that I made it on the mechanical team. Since we started, I've learned many new things. John taught us how to find the ideal gear ratio using stall torque and free speed. I admit it took me a long time before I understood that. When we started to work using the mill and the lathe in the machine shop, I was so scared. I was very hesitant to use those machines. Then, I saw Mr. Ing using them and I learned how to operate them. I have used both machines, but I like the mill the best.

Robotics has impacted my life positively. I have made new friends, became closer with people I already knew, learned new things including how to apply what I have learned. Robotics is like my second family. I am really glad I joined and plan on joining robotics again next year.

This is my first year on the robotics team and more like half a year since only a semester has passed. I never did plan on joining the robotics team before, but this year I tried it. Most of the time I like to try new things. I joined mainly because my friends were joining and I did not want to feel left out and I also missed building things. I have never worked with these kinds of robot metal parts before so it was a new experience. I would say that robotics has had a very positive impact on my life in many ways. For example, I feel that I am challenging myself more. Robotics requires me to put in my time and effort. Instead of going straight home afterschool and just watching tv and not doing anything productive, I would go to robotics where I feel like my brain is growing. It makes me feel smarter; as if I had a bigger brain. In school they teach us the basic stuff and they build off of it every year. But in robotics my brain is growing in a different field. It still requires me to apply what I learn in class to what we are doing, but in a different way that I understand better than in the classroom. Also, because of robotics, I do my homework more. From the little time after school that we have until we start working for the day, I use that time to do my homework. I know that I will be very tired later on in the day and will not feel like doing my homework. Though I do my homework more than I did before, my grades have went slightly down, but that's fine with me. It just makes it more of a challenge to keep my grades up and stay on the robotics team.

At first, I didn't know what was going on and I felt so lost so I did not feel like I wanted to continue. But I told myself that I should stick it out for as long as I could and eventually I started to look forward to going to robotics. It started to become really exciting to come in almost everyday and look forward to working on your own "creation." And then the VEX season ended and the FIRST season was starting. I did not feel too positive about interviewing for the FIRST team and I planned on cancelling my interview, but I wasn't able to and was told to try my best. Now I am glad that I went to the interview. I made it onto the mechanical team, but as an alternate. I was very surprised about that, but I did not like the physics lessons even though I missed most of them. As an alternate, I thought I was only supposed to come in about every other day, but then everyone came in everyday so it started to get really crowded. But now we have set up a schedule of when to come in so it should be good. So far I feel as if I have learned a lot and I am really grateful to our mentors who put in their time for us. Over time, I hope I will be able to pick up new knowledge along the way as we work and be able to experience new things. Robotics has given me a chance to open up and try new things.