Our Recruitment

Author:  Youbin P (Fr)

I can still remember the first day of school at Columbus High as a freshman—a new school, new faces, new atmosphere—the only familiarity I could grasp on to was the faces of few students from my middle school. Taking couple steps into the building, I was filled with an even mixture of excitement and terror. And just like that, the beginning of my high school life began, and although I didn’t know at the time, so did my adventure with Columbus Space Program—team 4188.
            I always believed that joining clubs and extracurricular was the best way to make friends and to get involved with the school. I had a few activities in mind, but to be honest, robotics was one of the last ones on my checklist. My original plan was just to check out the informational meeting and sign up if it seems like minimal work. At the time, I just felt as if robotics didn’t fit me.
            To me, and to most out there, robotics can seem like it’s only for those who are obsessed with technology, very smart, aloof, and most of all, meddling with metal for hours sounded quite dull. Robots and metals were not in my area of interest nor did I know very much about it. So, even going to the meeting made me anxious.
            When I got to the meeting, our dearest veterans, Hallie and Ashita led the meeting on what robotics was all about, and I was pleasantly surprised. First, they were not recruiting some tech geniuses—they were recruiting normal students, even with zero experience, like myself. And secondly, it wasn’t just about building a robot. There was so much more than that; there was different types of fields I could be trained in such as design, media, pneumatics, electrical, and much more. The part I was most amazed was the fact that there is always a spot for someone to fit in the team—for example, the media team manages awards, deals with representation of the team, and communication; design deals with sketching out the robot rather than actually building. So many different things came together to create and to support the team.
Not to mention Hallie and Ashita talking about all the astonishing things that 4188 has accomplished, including the showcasing of robot from last season. What can I say? I immediately gravitated toward robotics; something inside of me clicked—I wanted to be a part of the team.
            Many weeks later, after many trainings and hours spent on robotics, here I am, writing a blog for our team. I am now a proud rookie, who spends hours at robotics without noticing the time passing by. I cherish the times building, designing, and the simple moments spent together as a team.  I spend about 40 hours per week either working on something for robotics or at Marshall, which is basically my second home at this point. It does take my time and commitment, but what I gain from the few hours I lose is beyond valuable—I’d say being recruited into the team was one of the best things that has happened to me.

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