Creating robots is not the only thing the robotics club is up to this year; every meeting, the members grow as a group as they build the determination to work harder to succeeding in their upcoming tournament, where the robot built is displayed to earn as many points possible.

The robotics club is currently assembling its robot for qualifying rounds of the regional tournament. If the club succeeds with its robot in either one of the upcoming qualifying tournaments Dec. 6 or Jan. 10, the club could move on to compete against other schools in the Orange County Region.

Junior and current president Hope Lee formed the club two years ago, but after no one showed up the club only held officer meetings and did not progress much. It was not until this year that the present eleven members started to form the current thriving club.

“I feel we have a very strong team this year; we have a lot of potential,” Lee said. “I think we’ll be able to get past the first level of qualified tournaments.”

The club encourages teamwork during meetings at school, where club members gather together weekly to prepare a robot that embodies the theme (the Cascade Effect) to compete in the tournament.

Lee said she has confidence that the robot they are building will be high quality. She also said she believes this year’s team, in comparison to last year’s, is more productive. Lee strongly encourages the club to have a proper work ethic and progress towards its goal as a unified team during meetings.

“The entire act of revamping the robotics club is really giving us more access to events and tournaments we couldn’t have entered with less members,” vice president, secretary and treasurer Mark Kyaw said.

Kyaw said he understands that much of the robot machinery relies on the programmed coding and encourages programmers to do their best. He wishes for the club members to work hard with others in building the robots, communicating their thoughts and brainstorming ideas.

While the more short-term goal is to beat University High, freshman Celine Chen, one of the club’s programmers, said she hopes to see the club make the super-regionals in competition.

“The main goal for the club is to be as successful as we can in the upcoming tournaments,” Chen said. “I think we can make it as long as we work together.”