High school students say robotics team prepares them well for future education, careers

By Hannah Davies

With high school robotics competition season approaching, team members are reflecting on their progress throughout previous years and preparing new strategies to succeed further this year.

Being involved with robotics in high school builds friendships and teamwork skills and can help students receive scholarships.

FIRST Robotics is an international youth organization, with the goal of inspiring students in the engineering and technology fields.

Jacob Cazabon, 18, is a student at the Ontario Institute of Technology where he studies computer and data science. Cazabon said being the only programmer on the St. Anne Catholic High School robotics team helped him get scholarships and solidify his career path in STEM. He is now a mentor for the St. Anne team.

“I was hungry for the same creative, yet competitive feeling, even though it’s not really the same when you’re not a student anymore,” said Cazabon. “I also figured my three years of solo programming experience might be worth something for the new programmers.”

Cazabon said robotics was the best decision he ever made in high school. He did not play sports so robotics helped him express school spirit he said he didn’t even know he had. He added that he is a more confident person after being on the team.

For some students, like Anthony Fanara, 19, the robotics program is the reason he attended St. Anne.

Massimo Chiodo, 17, is in his fourth and final year of being on the robotics team at St. Anne. He is the mechanical lead and helps with designing and building the robot. Chiodo said the role he plays on the team will help him in post-secondary engineering and in his future career. He said in previous competitions, the team has been challenged to improve their robot’s ability on the field by experimentation.

“I’ve spent around 60 to 70 hours working on the robot, not including time hands-off the robot, doing other things for the team,” said Chiodo.

Chiodo believes working as a solid team is essential.

“Having structure in our team contributes to how organized and effective we are at getting things done before deadlines. This is extremely important considering the build season is only six weeks,” said Chiodo.

For upcoming events and more information on STEM robotics, visit FirstRoboticsCanada.org