Imagine you walk into a class, the door wide open, as if welcoming you in. You see wood on tables as the smell of lumber fills your lungs. Students gathered around white tables, either talking amongst themselves or working on the computer. The teacher plays music in the background, and a light projector shows today’s assignments. You notice the room number, E105, the robotics class.

I interviewed Mr. Arnold, the robotics teacher, about what makes robotics essential to students and how it can benefit them. In his classroom, I saw that wood was being used to build the robots, specifically robots that resembled cars. “Robotics fosters problem-solving and analytical thinking to solve the problem,” he said. In robotics, you must use these thinking skills to question how the robots will move and code them. Critical thinking is when you think about the entire problem and plan. This skill is necessary for robotics, as you must be able to plan out the robot’s movement ahead of time.

The robots will go to good use, as you can enter competitions. Our school has entered many competitions in Montgomery, and we’ve won a couple. “In class, the robots are premade but, in a competition, setting they have to build them on their own as a team.” Mr. Arnold said. What that means is when the students are in class, the robots they program/code are premade. But when they enter competitions, they create the robots themselves with their team.

“Robotics inspires problem-solving, and outside-the-box thinking and enhances your skills with technology because you’re using the computers and coding from scratch.” Mr. Arnold said. The proud feeling when you code your robot, the dedication and time it takes, and the friends we make along the way. Victory in the competition is a single sign-up away. So don’t wait if you want to join robotics, go for it.