2015, 11 years old

On a whim, I signed up for my local FIRST Lego League Team (FLL), hosted by the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey.

I tried to teach myself to program using the Lego Mindstorms horizontal block code, but it was rough going, especially on a team of middle schoolers who were still learning how to get along. Despite this, we walked away from our regional qualifier with a first place trophy for our project: a phone case where you can spit your gum and later dump it in the trash.

I would continue to compete all throughout middle school, improving my coding skills on Scratch in the off season, and making lifelong friends and learning what it means to be a teammate and a mentor to others.

2018, 14 years old

Because of my late birthday, I was still eligible to compete in FLL, and I had unfinished business.

I spent that last summer before highschool sitting on my mom's computer developing a "library" of methods—including my own system of documentation—all still in the horizontal block code. These parameter-driven functions include PID line followers, alignment algorithms, and so much more. It was the first time anyone in my program had taken full advantage of the mathematical and modular capabilities of the software, and I can only look back and laugh now at what my coach must've been thinking...something to the tune of witchcraft, knowing her.

Leading my team to an extraordinary season, we took home second place in programming at the state tournament, as well as a perfect score on our Core Values judging, which evaluates team dynamics and how well you work together. No matter how many accolades I may get in the future, there will be few I am as proud of as this. It means nothing in the scheme of things, but when you taught yourself everything and put your blood, sweat, and many, many tears in for four years straight, there's no better feeling than recognition.

2019, 15 years old

The timing was finally right to found my own all-Girl Scout high school robotics team, 17009 Steel Magnolias. We competed in FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), where robots were at most 18” in every dimension, ran on Android phones, and competed on a 12’ square field with a new game challenge every year. It was a rough season; meeting the threshold for required parts, members, coaches, space, and funding was no easy task. But we persevered, and created a home for high school girls who did not have the opportunity to pursue STEM and robotics in their own communities, myself included. The team still competes to this day, and does quite well!

At the same time, I started mentoring the old FLL girls. Many of those girls went on to apply for and join Steel Magnolias. It has been an honor to watch them grow up and hone their skills, both technical and personal. Having been on the other side of it, as the mentee, it meant a lot to me when I realized that these girls look up to me the way I once looked up to my mentors. It’s sometimes hard to imagine yourself as someone worthy of looking up to, but I’m glad that they feel that I’ve had a positive impact on them.

2020, 15 years old

Our first season was a rollercoaster, in the best way possible. We went from our robot not even starting our first ever match, to that same day, being selected to compete in the finals of our first meet for our stellar autonomous code (which I was proud to have written, just only having learned Java (my first written language) that month!). That day, we earned the moniker “Nerves of Steel” and we’ve worn it as a badge of honor ever since.

Outreach was also a larger part of the competition. We spent a lot of time and effort reaching out into our community, helping to get young girls and kids in general into STEM. We ran many events, and uplifting the next generation has always been a big priority for me. You can catch a little animation I made for one of those programs, Steel Academy STEM. The first inititive with that program was a laser-cut catapult kit with a corresponding pamphlet that included instructions and information on how to get involved in robotics.

Despite our early difficulties we went on, with our duct-taped robot and wildly out-of-date parts, to get second at our qualifying tournament and move on to the state tournament…which was then canceled when COVID hit. What it did mean, however, is that we were able to create our video submission for the Promote Award, which won New Jersey and then went on to win Worlds! Feel free to watch the video using the following link:

Promote Award Winner 2020

2022, 17 years old

Having a home and family to go to every weekend was easily the highlight of my high school career, whether we won or lost (and we took our fair share of losses!). I knew I could not leave this chapter of my life behind forever, so I decided I would pursue an undergrad in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, despite how expensive the school is.

They run a scholarship for FIRST students called the WPI Design Innovation Scholarship, which requires a video submission, which you can watch below. It details the highlights from my final season, as well as a section at the end of what being on a team of such incredible people meant to me. The video was a runnerup, which awarded me a sum of $20,000 that I am so grateful for. My senior year was mostly spent teaching the younger girls on the team everything I knew so that the team would be able to function after I was gone, having done nearly all of the programming and business (outreach, portfolio, etc.) tasks the previous three years. That meant that I did not get to try to learn and create as many cool things as I might have wanted, but seeing those same girls reach new heights now has made that sacrifice well worth it. I'm a very proud big "sibling," and I wouldn't have it any other way!