8 Garrett G’s AP Compositions

When you first think of High School extra curricular activities, your mind likely goes straight to football, basketball, or some other form of ball and field type game, but if you talk to any of the over 600 thousand students worldwide who are a part of the FIRST organization, you’ll get a different response. Robotics! Robotics has given these students access to important leadership and STEM skills at a young age, but the only issue is availability. Not many schools provide funding for such STEM clubs, which means they are missing out on important teaching opportunities. More schools should provide better access to STEM clubs, such as FIRST, in order to encourage students to learn important life skills.

An article from the New York Times tells the story of Cillian Jackson, a two year old from Minnesota who, due to a medical condition, was unable to walk from birth. Local High School Robotics team, Rogue Robotics, saw Cillians struggle and decided to work together to find a solution to Cillians problem. Using STEM skills, Rogue Robotics designed an electric wheelchair custom made to fit Cillians needs. Upon seeing the wheelchair for the first time, Cillians mother said, “Those kids are so smart and so compassionate […] they were so thrilled to see that the work that they had done made a difference”. Thanks to the collaboration of the students, Cillian was able to do more than he could have ever imagined. He could even chase his Corgis around the house!

The main counterargument to High School Robotics, is lack of funding. However, a large part of the FIRST organization is outreach, which includes fundraising. For many FIRST teams, including the one that I personally am a part of (Team Photon – 18050), nearly all of our funding is brought in through grants, and other fundraising opportunities that are fully set up and operated by students. This not only means the clubs are reasonably cheap to start, but students also gain important outreach skills while fundraising for their team.

Given the life changing capability and general inexpensiveness of High School robotics teams, it seems like a no brainer to incorporate them into High Schools across the country and even world. There is no lack of need in the world for engineers, scientists, programmers, and leaders, and clubs like these help inspire kids to pursue academic careers in STEM. So, if you know of a robotics team around, go support them! But if you don’t, then go to your school’s district leaders and fight for STEM!

– Malkin, Elisabeth. “A Robotics Team Built a Toddler a Wheelchair. Now He’s Chasing His Corgis Around.” The New York Times, 3 Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/us/robotics-wheelchair.html.
-“What Is STEM?” Pearson Accelerated, www.pearsonaccelerated.com/blog/stem.html. Accessed 13 Dec. 2023.
-“FTC Team Photon 18050 (@ftc_teamphoton) • Instagram Photos and Videos.” Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/ftc_teamphoton/?hl=hu. Accessed 13 Dec. 2023.
-“First Inspires.” FIRST, FIRST, www.firstinspires.org/home. Accessed 13 Dec. 2023.
-Licensed-Image (2048×1368). encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/licensed-image?q=tbn:ANd9GcRRKD9ECH2z7g_pqRU4EpXZVGR0zlfMFud_Ls2C6YEM4kUv7JKa3uzEhF8Om6KnHnQU3xkw6sbrWIrrOl0. Accessed 13 Dec. 2023.

By: Garrett Galvin

I love Legos. Legos were a staple of my early childhood because they allowed me to be creative. I asked for them for every holiday, birthday, and party. So naturally, in 5th grade, I was drawn to the idea of Lego League. Now, being the little 5th grader I was, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but as long as it included the word Lego, I didn’t care. When I arrived at the first meeting, I was surprised to see on the table, not a box of simple snap brick legos, but a pile of wires, motors, and brackets. My confusion soon turned into eager curiosity when I learned that I would be able to use these parts to create my very own little robot. I passionately worked on my tiny machine for hours, the possibilities of what I could create were truly endless. This event sparked the light of STEM in my heart and it pushed me to join the Ames High Robotics team, Team Photon, where I am still using STEM and teamwork to design and create working machines. This High School STEM club even gave me the ability to reach out into the community and coach my very own Lego League team at the elementary school where I was given my first experience in STEM. It was a truly inspiring experience to see the smiles grow on kids faces when they learned that they too could build their own robot. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, Lego League shaped a large part of not only my future, but also the future of my own community. Because I was given this opportunity to design and be creative, I now know that I want to go to college to become a mechanical engineer. Giving students the opportunity to be creative and explore new hobbies helps give them a better sense of direction in their life, and allows them to find their own passion.

At 7:30am the alarm goes off. The wailing awakens me from my dreams and shuttles me back into the real world. One deep breath in and out as I sit up in bed, barely able to see 3 feet through my groggy eyes. I reach the bedside table which is home to the source of the alarm, that damn phone. The pre-day headache makes me want to take a Ferris Bueller style day off, but the yell of the alarm says otherwise. Ten minute shower, ten minute breakfast, and I’m out the door. The infinite line of parental cars means I’m late for first period, off to a great start. I wander into class and head to the back of the classroom, less likely to be called on there. As the teacher drones on, all I can do is stare outside at the beautiful fall day. Lectures turn into white noise as I dream of doing anything but schoolwork. Bells ring as the period ends, more alarms. I check the board as I leave class to catch what I missed in my daze, but the sheer number of “exponents” and “derivatives” give me an unforgiving headache. Exchanging smiles with friends in the hallway is the closest I’ve gotten to any social interaction this morning, yet it’s the best part of my day so far. The cycle of daydreaming repeats until I find myself at lunch. The line of a hundred screaming students waiting for the mediocre “slop of the day” makes me want to puke, yet every day I find myself in that same line. If Mean Girls got one thing right about high school, it’s the division of lunch tables. Freaks and Geeks sit with a sandwich in one hand, and an AP textbook in the other, while the Kings and Queens of the class sit at high tables surrounded by their loyal brigade of underclassmen. I down the last of the slop and prepare for the last two classes of the day, the home stretch. A few more hours of mindless notetaking and finally home free. As I drive homeward, I feel a sense of freedom for the first time all day. This feeling carries me all the way home, but soon dies as I remember all the assignments the teachers have decided are worth my time outside of school. Forty Five minutes of work from each class quickly turns into hours of my night spent in front of a cheap school issued laptop. Looking up from my schoolwork, the clock reads 10pm, where has the day gone? As I drift to bed, I dread the upcoming day. Maybe tomorrow will be better… Maybe… Photo Credit: Chris Campbell, “Classroom Clock” March 21, 2005 at 9:41:34 PM CST

People who wonder if the glass is half empty or full miss the point. The glass is refillable

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