I am currently a sophomore at Gettysburg College. I joined as a freshman because my brother was involved on the build team and my dad was a mentor. Originally, I was skeptical about joining because I had no idea how to design or build a robot; however, after attending my first meeting, I realized there were many different jobs besides the build team that make up the Robotics team. I decided to join the Website and Marketing teams. For marketing, I helped out with the financing and fundraising. I also helped plan and implement the team's food drive at Sharon School. For the website, I took pictures of the different events we hosted throughout the build season and posted them on the website. I also dealt with programs such as Photoshop to enhance the pictures and other aspects of the website.
Through the Robotics team, I learned skills that will help me not only in the rest of my college experience but also in the real world. I learned that in order to create a functioning team and a winning robot, all parts of the team, including the build team, website team, finance team, and marketing team, must work together diligently. One of the most important things I learned is the idea of gracious professionalism, a term I heard many times throughout the four seasons I spent on the Robtics team! These skills that I learned through Robotics will stick with me for the rest of my life.
Besides Robotics, I participated in a few other extracurricular activities. These include cross country in the fall, track in the winter and spring, and Student Council, where I was the secretary. Outside of school, I took dance lessons twice a week: tap and hip-hop. I also enjoyed hanging out with friends and babysitting.
I am glad I joined Robotics because it helped me in many ways, it was a great experience, and last but not least, I had a great time!