Throughout my high school career, I have been involved in many activities that will have an influence on my future self.

Of all these programs, no program has been more influential on me than the FIRST Robotics program. This program has not only instilled in me values that will help me for the rest of my life but has also shown me a career path that I wish to follow.I spent only one year in the FIRST program, but I thoroughly enjoyed that one year as it taught me a lot and let me apply whatever I learned. I became a participant in my senior year as that was when I moved to the USA from India. Since I joined the club, I have put in at least 100 hours into the preparations of our robot. I am a part of the URSA Major club (Team 2849) and I was a programmer in the club.

With the help of a robust robot that we designed this year, our team has been doing very well in the qualifiers and if all goes well, our robot has the capability to compete at the national level.

Through building and programming the robot, I saw firsthand the real-life applications of the concepts that we learned in school. For example, the 2018 FRC required the robot to be able to lift a cube about 6 feet high and this meant that the robot couldn’t travel too fast or be too heavy at the top as both conditions would lead to the robot tipping over. This was something that both the build team and the programming team had to keep in mind. The program has also taught me the value of teamwork, especially while working on a large project like the robot. Just like the FIRST program, I envision Embry-Riddle to be a place where I would have the opportunity to apply what I was taught and a place where a student is given real-world problems to solve so that he/she will be prepared for the real world. Everyone also helps to make sure that every job is done right, and I have learned from the FIRST program that being able to work in a team is essential to becoming a great engineer. FIRST Robotics gave me first-hand experience in the field of engineering and computer science and helped me decide that it is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

The feeling of accomplishment that I felt when our mechanized creation could finally drive and perform tasks is unrivaled. Through engineering, I feel like I am doing something constructive with my knowledge. Through FIRST, I discovered the engineer/programmer within me. I will always be grateful for the program and thankful to its founder, Dean Kamen, because the program has helped me to find a career that I enjoy, and I can see myself pursuing for the rest of my life.