Chelsea’s FRC “FIRST Robotics Competition” team, 1502 Technical Difficulties has won the FIRST Impact award at the district level for the past 3 years and also won last year at the state level; this year however most of 1502’s Impact subteam, the group of students who present to the judges for awards, are graduating. Seniors Amelia Fulton, Sophia Getty, and Hannah Lesser, speak on how being on the Impact team has affected them, and what advice they have for the underclassmen with big shoes to fill.
“My communication skills were really [improved],” Getty said. “I was really awkward, and I still kind of am, but at least now I know how to communicate, especially in a professional setting, I feel like I could hold my own in an interview or something like that.”
Students on Impact gain valuable communication skills from talking to judges at competition about 1502’s accomplishments. Fulton talked about the process that the Impact team has to go through to present the outreach that 1502 does, from starting the first FRC team in Hungary to helping teams closer to home.
“Part of it is a written submission — a brief command essay, executive summaries, which are just small little paragraphs,” Fulton said. “Then, there's a presentation which is seven minutes long, followed by a five minute Q&A period. Parts of it can also be based on the pit interviews.”
The Impact team has to take all of the outreach that team 1502 has done and compile it into a presentation for judges. Lesser mentioned one of the larger ways that Chelsea makes an Impact on other teams in Michigan, Including Grass Lake’s rookie team, 11387 G.L.E.A.M.
“Chelsea's very lucky to have a building fully dedicated to robotics, and that's something that a lot of school districts and places don't have,” Lesser said. “And so something that we do to help neighboring FRC or teams and other school districts is [having] them over. We invite different places so that they can use our resources and grow themselves.”
The underclassmen students on Impact are stressed about the seniors leaving, significantly lessening the size of the Impact team. Fulton, Lesser, and Getty, offer some advice for the underclassmen to be successful.
“Just be confident in what you say,” Fulton said. “Know that you have all the knowledge. Don’t second guess yourself, and you just have to speak with confidence, and be proud of yourself, because no matter how far you go, it's an amazing feat just doing it.”
Getty and Fulton agreed that confidence matters when it comes to presenting what 1502 does; She also noted another thing that that’s important for them to consider when putting together their presentation.
“I think that a lot of it is in how you present yourself and the data,” Getty said. “We have a lot of broad numbers that aren't good compared to a lot of other teams, but they are good for where we are, where Chelsea is, so it's really important that they present it in the most impactful way.”
Overall, the three seniors agreed that the most important thing for the underclassmen to remember was to be confident in themselves. Lesser offers a final piece of advice to help them be successful.
“Knowing that you have a really compelling story, and knowing that no matter how you choose to tell it, it still matters,” Lesser said.
