Robotics

Drew's last year as a high school student to participate in Robotics. He loves working on the robot, but is frustrated this year because their progress has been slow. The team has spent hours and hours working on the mechanics, software, and hardware. Many nights he didn't get home until after 2am. Now they are at competition, and in the first heat, their robot wouldn't even move. After all that work and discussion and testing!

By the second match, they were moving, but functionality was not what they had hoped for. Performance remained spotty throughout the event. Some matches they actually won, some the robot did what they wanted it to do, other matches the darn thing just tipped over and that was that. Drew said he spent about an hour talking through what worked and what did not work for each match, then strategizing for the next match.

I feel for his frustration. I can almost see and hear him stretching, maturing, learning how to function under duress, how to work with others, how to prevent problems and how to handle the ones that get through. For all the losses in this year's tournament, he has gained in so many ways. I know he does not yet appreciate this, but eventually he will be able to look back and see it. In the tough places of life, we grow.