Good Vibes Only: High School robotics promotes teamwork and friendship

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)—Thirty-six teams from across the area recently competed at the Texas Region I V5RC High School State Robotics Championship: Pushback in El Paso.

Top teams were able to showcase their driving and autonomous skills while improving their engineering design process skills.

Robotics is a hands-on, competitive activity that promotes engineering and programming. But it also goes beyond the fundamentals and promotes teamwork!

ABC-7 spoke to several local high school students at the competition who said robotics introduced them to their closest friends!

"I love being able to communicate with my team and make good improvements in the overall, and grow as a team together,” one student said.

"It feels amazing, especially since it's the first year and we're at a championship. So it's super, it's super, super amazing seeing all the different teams grow within each other,” said Maria Luisa Martinez, a student at Americas High School.

Some students said their school teams had been preparing for months. One group of competitors from Hanks High School said that thanks to robotics, they’ve been able to forge relationships with people they wouldn't have met otherwise.

"All of these girls that I've met are of my closest friends, and I did meet them through robotics as well. And it's been a great opportunity to meet all these amazing people. They're all very welcoming,” explained Laila Moreno, a student at Hanks High School.

Despite the competition, students said it’s all about connecting with others and perfecting their craft for a chance to move to the next level.

"We're like a family because we are always together. We spend a lot of time preparing for the robotics team, and also, like, getting to know all of these people that are from different schools comes from people that are from different parts of Texas," said another Americas High School student.

"We made goodie bags beforehand to hand out to all the different teams. And we've also been cheering on the sidelines with the teams. So it really is exciting to see everyone collaborate with everyone and just coming together in this big competition," Martinez said.

Students said they believe the skills they learn in robotics will help them in their future careers.

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