Reviving my Highschool's Robotics Club
My love for robotics was first kindered in middle school whenever I joined my friends during their lunchbreak to work on robots. Our school was part of the Mississippi FIRST LEGO League (FLL). Surprisingly my first year we made it to the state competition, and it was an exhilarating. I kept on it till eigth grade, until I moved for highschool up to Indiana.
You would think that a school nationally ranked and known for excellence in STEM fields would have an amazing robotics team. You would be wrong, and so was I. Previous leadership kept materials for themselves, the coronavirus seemed to have prevented us from getting funding + registering for competitions, and it seemed like it was all for nothing. This turned my perception of the club as the robotics powerhouse I thought a school of such reputation would host to a club for slackers waiting for their parents to pick them up after school on Monday.
I was elected treasurer during my junior year (25-26). I was able to raise almost ~$4K+, most of it coming from a local engineering company that one of my friend's parents is employed at. They sponsor other local clubs, so I'm thankful they had space for us. The other marginal funds came from various Indiana State funds. My senior year (26-27), I was elected the president. This section of my website is to document the rise of this club, so you guys can follow us too. It also helps me keep accountable with keeping our goals. The immediate goal is to build the current VEX V5 competition robot and actually compete. We hope to get to state, and potentially worlds (I'm not counting on it, though).