When I tell people I am on my school’s robotics team, their natural response is usually, “Wow! How did you guys build that amazing robot?” The disappointment is evident on their faces as I explain to them that I do not build the robot, but am instead the team’s Chief Financial Officer. However, after I further explain to them the responsibilities we hold on the finance team, they soon discover that our section of the team is equally important to the team that assembles the robot. All five sub teams of Nemesis work together in perfect harmony, each one just as vital to the operation as the next.
I was introduced to FIRST through a friend of mine, whose brother had been a member of Nemesis. Ever since hearing about it, I have always been excited to try it out for myself, and to see whether or not it would exceed my expectations. Entering my junior year with two year of experience under my belt, the expectations I held have been well-surpassed. During my sophomore year in 2015, I was given the opportunity to do amazing things, like: present the Chairman’s Award to panels of judges in Montreal and Hatboro-Horsham; compete for the Entrepreneurship Award at Hatboro-Horsham, North Brunswick, Montreal, and win it at the World Championships in St. Louis (naming Nemesis a top-four business team in the world); present a business pitch to a room of 40 current and potential sponsors asking them for their support; and visit the New Jersey State House to speak to Senators and Assemblymen from all around the state.. Opportunities like these are providing me with invaluable public speaking and business skills, which I hope to use both during and after my college career.
Aside from Nemesis, I play for my school’s varsity soccer team, am the Vice President of my class, and a member of the Future Business Leaders of America. I also participate in my local youth group, who every summer travels to Preston County, West Virginia, in order to build homes for the less fortunate. Foodstock NJ is another organization I am also involved with, a foundation that hosts food drives donating to the less fortunate.
With my responsibilities continuing to grow as I enter my third year with the team, it is rewarding to see all of my hard work start to pay off.