Even though this is my second year in FLL, I still got very discouraged and shy sometimes when I am asked to share my thoughts or do something new. I felt that I won't be able to do what was being asked.  This is where my teammates have been amazing.  They tell me that they will always listen to my ideas and allow me to share my opinions. I learned from last year that it is okay to share your ideas even though you feel they are not brilliant. I made a personal goal to take risks and not to give up. I guess you can say that is why some of us picked “Resilience” as our additional team core value. FLL and my team helped me  build  my character and give me a chance to express my ideas. I am also glad to have a rookie in our team that I can mentor now and share my experiences from last year. I helped her build arms, test paths as well as encourage her when she feels shy just like I used to be.

This is my first year in FLL. I sometimes feel really shy and feel my ideas are just not good enough. I am really thankful to have great teammates that help me through things I have trouble with. For example, I am new to coding and testing while my teammates have been coding for years. When I get stuck, my teammates always come to my rescue and point me in the right direction. I still have a lot to learn but my team helps make it more fun. So one of my goals for FLL this year is to not to be shy about sharing my ideas and participate with lots of fun.

Forgetting to do something was always a challenge for me. I just thought I could remember it all and didn't need to keep track. But when I forgot to do something, it became overwhelming. FLL helped me become more organized by teaching me how to break big tasks into smaller, manageable steps and keep up with my progress. For example, when I needed to do a path, I started by researching the missions and then divided the work into sections.  Each part of the mission had its own goal and deadline, which I tracked with a checklist to make sure I stayed on top of everything. I used Google Calendar and marked off what I did and didn’t do. I learned to prioritize my tasks and manage my time more efficiently. When things didn’t go as planned, like when the robot or arms broke, I was able to quickly understand how I could find time for the additional work for the fix. In all, FLL taught me how to stay organized, plan ahead, and handle challenges better. 

Before FLL, I was the person who thought I could do everything on my own. Throughout this season I have learned to make use of my teammates and not do everything on my own. Through this I learnt how to be a leader. I helped my teammates effectively program the robot and build the arms. I learned that being a leader doesn't mean I just get tell what to do but also I learned how to be patient to show how to do. Hydra V1 was made by me over the summer but my teammates helped me identify flaws and together we made Hydra V2 and V3. Just like how a car can not just function with an engine, you need wheels, brakes transmission, seatbelts, windshield wipers and headlights for the car to function. I truly feel We > Me.

I used to think that I had to go above and beyond in absolutely everything. This led me to feel bad for the smallest mistakes I would make. One thing that FLL has taught me is to focus on the content and not on aesthetics. Whenever we did research, I spent more time on formatting my paragraph, then actually answering the questions. My coaches always encouraged me to get best value for my time and I have learned to focus on things I can control, and make sure not to obsess on a misspelled work or an image that wasn’t formatted correctly. This led to more time to complete research and in turn led to more gains for the whole team. And I had time to actually make things pretty as well!