I joined the Robotics Club in Woodlands Ring Secondary School (WRSS) from 2012 to 2015, where I had the opportunity to serve as a Student Leader for Secretarial Matters. Prior to my appointment, I also held other roles such as a Section IC and Spokesperson for the club.
Background
WRSS Robotics Club is a Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) that provides learning-cum-opportunities for members to hone their computing and technical skills at national robotics competitions. Aside, the club also has a wide array of other activities including overseas outreach experiences and student-led workshops for primary schools. During my tenure, I assisted in the running of weekly training and bonding sessions for our club members, and took charge of organizing and collating work for competitions. Moreover, I was privileged to be a public voice of the Robotics Club to several international delegates.
Participating in Competitions
I was presented with a myriad of opportunities to participate in nationwide competitions including RoboCup Singapore Open, 14th Elementz Science Research Conference and Exhibition, FIRST Tech Challenge (Block Party), Marine and Offshore Challenge (Boat Racing), amongst many others. Highlights of my achievements include emerging as Champion for the dance category of RoboCup Singapore Open 2012 and as First-Runner Up for the 20th Singapore Robotics Games. These were possible as I was blessed with excellent and determined team members who put in their utmost effort in every competition.
Having picked up the passion and love for Robotics, coupled with stronger problem-solving skills, I managed to attain the Silver Young Engineer Award (YEA) by Singapore Polytechnic in 2014. Later, I also passed down my knowledge for line tracing robots, i.e. KaiRobo, by coming up with lesson plans and programming notes for my juniors and primary school children.
Forging Bonds with the International Community
The Robotics Club often hosted visits by delegates from other countries so as to create awareness in embracing cultural differences as well as to share knowledge in the field of education for Robotics. As the spokesperson and public voice of the Robotics Club, I would tour delegates around various exhibits and answer their queries. I have experience in hosting delegates from Brunei, Philippines, Zhejiang China and the United States.
However, I did not expect that hosting international delegates in Singapore was my first step towards stepping out of the classroom and exchanging knowledge with the international community. In November 2014, I had to break out of my comfort zone and visit Chiang Mai, Thailand for an Overseas Community Involvement Programme (OCIP) as a Student Leader taking care of the Robotics Club.
Rising to the Occasion
Being a member of the Executive Committee (EXCO) in 2014 certainly wasn’t an easy journey as I had to juggle my responsibilities in my studies and being a class chairperson as well. Thankfully, my classmates and the rest of the CCA EXCO members were supportive and helped me along the way.
For my leadership contributions, I was grateful and honored to receive the Edusave Award for Achievement, Good Leadership and Service (EAGLES), MOE Colors (Merit) Award as well as the Edusave Character Award (ECHA). I credit these to the collective efforts put in by my peers and the continuous guidance and encouragements from my teachers.
Check out videos of my journey in WRSS Robotics Club here:
