Since 2001, the Canadian Robotics Competition has organized a three-day adventure every February that brings together young teams from across the country to play, build, and code. It combines STEM with the arts to create an incredible learning experience. Bilingualism, teamwork, and fairness are skills that are encouraged in future leaders.
"At the start of this experience, I thought of myself as a very visual and logical person. My participation in the CRC changed everything: testing, making mistakes, and starting over again made me realize that my logic was much more effective than I thought. I had underestimated myself, and robotics allowed me to see a part of myself that was able to thrive under pressure. Today, I am convinced that we girls have a major advantage: attention to detail. Sometimes my teammates and I are so meticulous that we almost forget the big picture, but it is this precision that makes the difference in the final result." - EMMA SHILOH MUNANA, member of the robot team.
"Throughout this adventure, I was driven by incredible energy and an amazing video partner, Ziyi Dai. We weren't just classmates or teamates as working together in a new context allowed us to deepen our friendship. The filming and editing stages weren't even a challenge, because we were so in sync. This experience has given me much more than just memories or strengthened friendships, since it has allowed me to grow as a person. I have gained new skills, like leadership and organization, that I will definitely use in all my future projects." - JADY CAI, member of the video team.
"This season has been a real lesson about resilience. Working in website, I realized that no matter how many hours you put in, it often feels like there's always something that needs adjusting. You have to be willing to accept criticism and change direction, even after spending hours on something you thought was perfect. This quest for perfection has turned my teamates into my harshest critics and greatest allies and it is precisely what has allowed me to evolve. In the end, I understood one essential thing: when you value what you create, you put your whole heart into it." - MIRIAM SHARSHAR, member of the website team
"Honestly, after my first days working on the kiosk, I quickly realized that there's a difference between imagining something and actually building it. A big part of the job is learning to sort through your ideas and come up with new ones based on the time and resources you have. Plus, building a project of this size is on a whole other level of difficulty compared to what we usually do in class. I am used to working with prototypes or on paper, not building something twice my size! On a small project, you can overlook a minor flaw, but on this scale, attention to detail has to be perfect. Every millimeter counts to bring the kiosk to life." - ANANYA ANANYA, member of the kiosk team
The journey concludes, but the magic continues.