When I went to Uno Chicago Grill the summer before 6th grade to watch my chorus teacher and his band play, I was expecting some mediocre pizza (thin crust is clearly better than deep dish, but I was always outnumbered by my parents) and some slightly less mediocre music (Mr. Smith was actually pretty good). It seemed, however, that my neighbor and his nerdy son had the same idea as my parents that night, and we got to talking about the robotics team that they were planning to start that fall. I accepted the invitation to join the team in the interest of getting to know the neighborhood a bit better, but I certainly didn't anticipate staying on the team until I aged out of the competition, and I DEFINITELY didn't expect to find myself helping found a new team at the high school level so that I could continue to build robots all day. Joining robotics taught me not only to love engineering, but also how to think for myself. It gave me something to be passionate about and a community that shared my interest. I took the skills and passions I learned in high school robotics to the University of Rochester, where I study mechanical engineering. As I look forward to graduation, I'm looking for jobs in research and development or green energy. I'd love to talk about any of your most engaging engineering experiences, cool projects you're working on, or how great the mountains are. Feel free to reach out!