Its just a very rough draft… i want random internet peoples opinion before i show someone else…
I’m gonna try to weave it into more of a story … right now its just a list of significant stuff i’ve learned…
B) Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you. (Common Application 2004)
One of the most significant experiences in my life would have to be my discovery of the Robotics club at Vanden High School. I was just a wee freshman at the time, fresh from the grips of middle school. The learning and social atmosphere at Golden west middle school had shut me down as a person, back in those days my freedom from the grips of the evil middle school youth was the skateboard. I spent countless days surfing the sidewalk, there was a laid back attitude to the sport that appealed to me, no rules, simply doing your best and having fun, being creative. Endless hours rolling down the concrete curves of Vacaville Skate park
I never sensed an adrenaline rush
every move was precisely executed with full foresight and calculation. The board gave me countless hours of enjoyment but it never fulfilled the other urges within me
the desire to create, to innovate, we designed ramps and half-pipes with rudimentary tools, I made websites for our skate clan but I wanted to utilize my skills to create something great.
I walked up to the Robotics table at the club fair. Mr. Green sat there giving potential members information. I stared at the 3d renderings of the robot, the outlining of the design and build process. This was my destiny, I wrote my name on the list. The meetings came and went, we raised funds, acquired sponsorships, and then came kickoff. Kickoff is the day they release the game that robots compete in; the competition is held by F.I.R.S.T (For inspiration and recognition of Science and technology) a nation wide organization with over 1000 teams and 50000 students. A clever new game is created every year for a never-ending challenge. Me and my fellow freshmen planned hypothesized and discussed potential designs, this was a new experience for me, and to discuss ideas in an intelligent setting was enlightening. Our design was too complex and cumbersome to construct but we learned the principles of design, and learned the fundamental physics involved with mechanical systems. As the season progressed I did very little, other than speak my mind. There were millions of minute details that went into the robot, the seniors of the team plugged away efficiently connecting hundreds of wires to various sensors and switches and controllers. It was overwhelming, a knowledge overload, I subtlety felt inferior but simply watched and didnt get in their way. Mr. Green was my main source of information, I wasnt as afraid to ask him questions, I learned the basics of how power is distributed through the robot, how the computer controls motor outputs. The veteran seniors handled most of the robot construction, however I volunteered to create our teams first Animation award submission. In a sub-competition each team creates a 30 second animated short, during middle school I had taught myself 3d animation, suddenly through extremely odd circumstances they came into use. My animation was the first one our team ever submitted, it had some directing issues
for one over usage of The Matrix camera effect, although with hyper freshmen it was expected.<br>
I tagged along on all of our competitions, I cheered from the sidelines, observed countless amounts of other robots, asking Green for any information regarding them. As the seniors programmed the Autonomous part of the robots code I dawdled around behind peeking at their screens deciphering code and hoping I could make an insightful suggestion and be elevated from freshmen status.
During that first year I didn’t do much, I was the first to actually create a full 30 sec animation with industry 3d animation tools. But I mostly sat on the sidelines waiting for every chance to spring up and offer a suggestion or ask a question, physically on the robot, I drilled a couple of holes, mounted electronics, and played with the “tools” learning how to properly use them, and became acquainted with the vast amount of bearings, blocks, and other miscellaneous parts that come together to create a robot.
Despite physically doing very little for the robot I learned the basics and most importantly I took part in discussion and was given the opportunity to ask questions. It may seem small but never before in school was I able to ask questions to tinker or to explore. The first year laid the foundation for the next few years where after the “super seniors” had left the team it was left to the former freshmen to rise up to the challenge, and despite losing the support of our machine shop sponsor, we accomplished the challenge. In the 2004 season, the first season without the veterans, our team for the first time in its history welded a custom aluminum frame for our robot, we for the first time in our history learned to machine our own parts for the robot. We received our milling machine several days after kickoff several days into the 6-week deadline, we taught ourselves over the course of a week, the principles of precision machining down to 1/1000 of an inch. We for the first time programmed in the language of C, for the first time in our teams history we created an autonomous program with full sensor feedback.
Mr. Green guided us but it was a joint exploration for both student and teacher through uncharted territories. We learned and discovered techniques, we solved problems and learned things many do not until in a professional position as engineer, or software developer, or machinist, or welder, or animator, or web designer. These skills could never have been acquired on the street, or in the skate-park, I cannot imagine where I would be had I not had the experience of robotics, the opportunities it has given me are endless, the experiences i’ve had are some of the best in my memory. The exchange of ideas, the commorodarie and team spirit, the experimentation and creativity are unmatched by anything i’ve ever done or known.