Photos courtesy of the South River High School Power Hawks Robotics Team
Shannon A., Grade 12
I am an AACPS: Student, South River High School
In 2012, while I was in 8th grade at Central Middle School, my parents were faced with a decision: move back home to Atlanta, Georgia where all of my extended family lives and where both of my parents grew up, or stay in Annapolis where they’d lived for only two years, but where their children had made friends. This decision would be a turning point as I was about to enter high school, and my sister middle school. I am happy to say that they had decided to stay, which opened me up to so many great opportunities through AACPS: most impactful, the FIRST® Robotics Competition team at South River High School.
My robotics team 1111 (the Power Hawks) and the FIRST organization have provided me with so many skills and experiences that have changed who I am today. I joined the team last year, for the 2015-2016 season, and it was honestly one of, if not the greatest year of my life. I learned so much from the team: communications, engineering, programming, business, writing, and so many other skills that I will be able to use in my future careers or just life in general. Additionally, I had so many opportunities with the team — like meeting up with people from congress and leading a summer camp — that I never would have even thought of doing before. The team even helped me discover my love for computer science and helped me start to discover what I want to do for a living: become a computer science teacher!
Outside of skills and opportunities, though, I also gained a family. Forty people working closely with each other trying to achieve a common goal: building our robot and excelling in competition. After spending so many hours with a group of people (roughly 20 a week outside of school during build season), of course we were going to become close. But the Power Hawks are more than just close; they are a supportive, friendly, helpful group of amazing people who hold each other up and push each other to always do their best in every way they can. They tutor others to make sure that they pass their classes, they are eager to volunteer for outreach events to show kids how great robotics is, and they cheer each other on even when things seem bleak.
Comparing myself from last year to myself from now, I would be almost unrecognizable. My posture changed, my demeanor changed, my way of speaking, writing, and acting has changed. I know what I want to pursue as a career and what degree I want to get in college, which I didn’t before. I gained a confidence that I never dreamed I would have. I would not be the person I am today without my team, without the program, and I am so very thankful for it.