On Jan. 28, the Bonita Vista High (BVH) Robotics team competed in the Montgomery Eighth Annual Tournament at Montgomery High. This invitational is the defining match that will send a select group of the state’s best teams to the state championship.

Out of the 38 teams that participated in this event, teams 751A, 751C and 751D represented BVH. Team 751B was unable to participate due to the invitational’s guidelines of three teams per school. Although these teams were under the same school, International Baccalaureate English Higher Level 1 and Robotics team advisor Jason Good mentions that they could play against each other in the match of “Spin Up”.

“The way that [the matches] are planned is randomized. So BVH is competing with other [schools and] each other. There’s a match list and you’ll see a lot of teams,” Good said.

“Spin Up” is a game with two opposition teams—red and blue—which is composed of two alliances each. The objective for each individual team is for their robots to score a lot of goals by tossing yellow discs into the goal which requires different elements of expertise from the teams. According to Good, every disc scored in the upper goal is an additional five points. Moreover, each disc made in the lower goal is an additional one point.

“It’s kind of intense and that field is brutal. Each team is crashing into each other. Some of the teams are really aggressive, [meaning] things break and motors heat up,” Good said.

Though all three BVH teams often work and practice together, they still made sure to consider each other as opponents in the match. Team 751D captain, Robotics programmer and senior Dorien Geske-Wilson explained his views on competing against other BVH teams.

“If there’s another BVH team that we’re going against, I’m gonna treat them like another competitor. I’m not going to take it easy on them just because they’re a BVH team. At the end of the day, it’s a competition. I enjoy that spirit,” Geske-Wilson said. “If you talk yourself up, and then you lose, it’s humbling. But at the same time, if you do the exact same thing and win, it’s rewarding.”

The Robotics teams have been working and remodeling their robots since Sep. 10, the start of their competition season. Vice president, team 751A captain and senior Noah Caballero explains how long his team has prepared their robot for and how carefully they have prepared it.

“Our current design is a couple of months in the making. We’ve had relatively similar designs since November. But we’ve made changes to our final design and it has only been like this for about a week. But the overall design has been the same,” Caballero said.

Due to the fact that the Robotics program has not been around at BVH for long, the team has faced several challenges regarding practicing throughout this season. Good explains how due to these challenges, they had to catch up to the other schools.

“At the beginning of the year, we did not have a practice field or a place to set it up. We also were really short on parts, but this year, we’ve been able to catch up,” Good said. “We started this season way behind other teams, [now] we’ve ended the season kind of where they’re at. Next year should be a lot better for us.”

Similarly, team 751C captain, Robotics team president and senior Stephanie Ling mentions the hardships she had to face during her two years on the team. Ling explains the difficulty in balancing responsibility and leadership.

“Robotics has a lot of energy that goes into it. Sometimes it’s difficult being a leader in a club, because not only do you have expectations, but you also have to provide support for everyone. I’ve learned throughout the year that it’s okay to help and support other people, to delegate so you don’t have to do everything yourself,” Ling said.

Despite her challenges, Ling believes that the Robotics program has helped her develop her leadership skills, which is one of the many things Ling has learned throughout her time with the team among other things.

“Robotics helped me a lot with compartmentalization because when we’re trying to design something, it’s important to focus on one thing at a time. We want everything to come together cohesively, but at the same time, we can’t force ourselves to keep trying to solve every single problem all at once. Robotics taught me a lot about different mental and emotional strategies to stay healthy,” Ling said.

Along with Ling experiencing an overall growth in herself through Robotics, the team itself has improved noticeably. As a four year Robotics team member, Caballero took note of the teams’ growth.

“This has probably been the best year in robotics. The amount of people we’ve had this year is amazing. When I started, we had three [teams], but it dropped to two because of attendance,” Caballero said. “Seeing my own team grow, seeing that transformation from not being really competent into being confident with their design is great.”

Like any team, the Robotics program strives to win their tournaments and advance to state. However, team 751D captain, Geske-Wilson mentions his perspectives on potentially advancing.

“As much as it’d be great, I don’t have high hopes of us going to state. There’s so many teams that are more qualified and they definitely deserve that spot more than we do. Don’t get me wrong, my team and I have worked really well. I’m proud of all of us. But I’m here for this last one to enjoy it,” Geske-Wilson said.

Similarly, Ling believes that although the possibilities of advancing to states are slim, she hopes to improve by working with those who are not on the BVH team. Moreover, she values the communication she is able to have with students who share a similar passion in Robotics, one that is unique.

“I want to make sure that everyone in Robotics and everyone at BVH understands that we have this support for STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] if they want to pursue it. I hope we can spread this love of Robotics and love of STEM to as many people as we can,” Ling said.

By the end of the tournament, team 751C made it through the furthest, as they were the only BVH team to make it past the 16th round. Despite the outcome of not making it into states, Good is extremely proud of the effort of his teams. He notices the improvement in the team’s performance and is impressed by their dedication and passion.

“We are putting the same number of hours on these robots as the other teams here that are probably going to be in the last round. We have the dedication and I am super proud of these kids,” Good said. “Every year, I’ve been the advisor, and the kids keep getting better and better. It’s terrific and exciting.”