On Jan. 19, the BVH Robotics Team F received the Build award at the VEX Push Back competition, a testament to their dedication. Robotics is organized, this year, in six teams, Team F being the latest addition. While the Robotics team takes part in many competitions throughout the year, senior and President Maya Delgado explains why this award was extremely meaningful to the team.
“The way the awards work is there are some participation awards and then there are the higher up awards that go to the better teams. This is one of the first years we got one of the higher up awards, and I am proud to see that our club has become a lot more competitive over the past two years,” Delgado said.
The Build award was given to Team F at the regional championships. This achievement represented the best and most well thought out build for the robotics season. Aarnav Gurung, the captain and lead builder, the one in charge of building the robot, describes how meaningful the award was and what it means for the team’s future. He also highlighted a key member who helped the team earn the recognition.
“This award means a lot to our team, and essentially sets a standard for how we want to improve. A special part of us getting this award was our senior, Sam O’Loughlin. Sam joined our team late into the season, however, some of the biggest impacts they made were on our design journal which is a requirement for the Build award,” Gurung said.
The Build award, as Gurung described, will be an important force, pushing the Robotics team towards future wins and successes. Despite being relatively new to the team, O’Loughlin served a vital role in this victory. They showed that commitment can be just as important as experience.
“Seeing all the hard work that we have put in throughout the year culminating in getting the award for our design, its uniqueness and how well suited to the elements of play our robot was, was powerful. It showed that the work and the commitment that I put into robotics really mattered in the grand scheme of things. I feel like being able to get the Build award really made it worth it,” O’Loughlin said.
O’Loughlin, being a new member on Team F, displayed the importance of persistence despite lacking the expertise. However, along with welcoming a new member to their team, Team F itself is a recent addition to the Bonita Vista Robotics Team. While the robotics program usually does not have enough members for a sixth team, the greater number of students this year allowed Team F to be created.
“Team F is actually a new team this year, and they even started late. We originally had only teams A, B, C, D and E. This year, we have had the most members, so we added F. We made Aarnav the captain because he was interested and we were confident he could fill the role. They are all really dedicated and deserve the recognition,” Delgado said.
The importance of the Build award was not just for the record books. It symbolized hard work paid off and may be a force that will mobilize the team forward into upcoming seasons. Gurung believes this award is only the beginning of future success for Bonita Vista Robotics.
“This award is moving our team and robotics as a whole to be more competitive in the future. Our team specifically was established last year in October, and with not a lot of time, it is insane how well my team grew and learned. For the next robotics season to come, I really hope that Bonita becomes stronger and more competitive to give our opponents a harder time,” Gurung said.
