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Posted by Kate Leach.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Student on team #166, Team Merrimack, from Merrimack High School and Unitrode / RS Machines.

Posted on 6/3/99 8:15 PM MST


In Reply to: inspiration or motivation? posted by Daniel on 5/31/99 7:45 PM MST:



I totally agree with Daniel.. I've been MIA for a while.. Y'know, gotta get what little work done before I graduate.. I think that the students, engineers, teachers, and parents should work on the same line as Daniel says.. Everyone is equal.. The table is round, we all rock.. As a student in this program for the past 4 years, I have seen change in myself.. And that's not easy to do for me..

I started out at the beginning of high school just thinking that I'd be taking a back seat and observing everything.. Even during my freshman year I had changed my way of thinking.. I was in the machine shop every night with all the seniors.. I was the only freshman there, and the only female.. I found out quickly that the communication of the team wasn't very good at all.. I ended up calling the main senior guy on the team every night to see if they were working that night.. Apparently I've always liked power tools.. Many times mom came to pick me up from the shop late at night.. I'd always say I needed a little bit more time to finish the part that I was working on.. She was astonished when I'd just turned on the band saw and cut a piece like it was nothing.. Unfortunately she didn't let me stay for any of the all-nighters.. That year we had just as many engineers as dedicated students in the machine shop working on the robot.. That was awesome.. I got to learn how to machine some of the simpler parts of the robot.. I got help from the engineers when I needed it.. But only when I asked or if I screwed up.. Same went for the design stuff.. Engineers and students both proposed their ideas as equals and everyone would point out pros and cons about everything.. I know that there was about a week in the shop where one of the seniors and I designed and prototyped something for the robot.. It ended up failing miserably in competition and got ditched for nationals.. In theory it worked.. But it just didn't even happen.. But it's all good.. I was frustrated at first, but now I laugh about it cuz now that I have 4 years under my belt I see a much better way of doing it..

And now that I have told you a story about my freshman year, that was just freshman year.. And I won't put you through talking about the next 3 years cuz I just did more and more each year.. I've gained more and more engineering knowledge and confidence and leadership roles.. And it's my own fault.. I didn't let anyone shoot me down when I was trying to get to the top.. I ended up becoming team captain because I wouldn't let personal grudges get in my way.. And on the inspirational side of things, our master engineer actually showed me how I could apply my math skills from class to the robot.. And what was even cooler was the fact that there were a few times that I proved him wrong with those same skills.. He is the only engineer that stayed with the team all my years with the team.. Everyone else has come and gone.. He is the person that gave me the most inspiration throughout these 4 years.. He's going into the navy now and won't be helping the team out anymore, but he's given us his address so we can stay in touch.. Maybe the only reason I'm so attached to the inspiration thing is because we haven't had much engineer/corporate support the whole time.. Well, I'm done for now.. If I think of anything more I'll be adding stuff..

-Kate-