Joining VEX Robotics in 2025–2026 helped me realize that some challenges require extensive problem-solving, planning, and brainstorming before they can be solved. Being involved in this activity was frustrating at times because our goal of building a powerful yet versatile robot proved difficult to achieve within the time we had. However, I remained motivated to reach this goal in preparation for our first competition at St. Andrews International School on December 7.

Being part of this team helped me understand the importance of teamwork, whether through dividing responsibilities or communicating effectively with one another. It made me realize that no matter how capable a single individual may be, our team would not achieve strong results without effective collaboration. This lesson extends beyond VEX Robotics and applies to many situations both inside and outside of school.

This activity was especially valuable to me because it involved two of my interests: programming and robotics. In addition, it helped me build positive relationships with peers whom I had not interacted with much before.

One specific challenge my team and I faced was creating a consistently reliable autonomous program. Many of the other schools used more advanced programming languages and software, while we chose to use block coding for its simplicity. However, we discovered that block coding required significant trial and error, whereas more advanced programming languages could offer greater precision and control. As a result, we spent a considerable amount of time troubleshooting, which reduced the time available to make other important improvements to the robot before competitions.

Through this experience, I learned the importance of selecting the right tools for a project and adapting when necessary. In the future, I would like to experiment with other programming languages to work more efficiently and continue improving my robotics and programming skills.