Yasmeen fell in love with robotics through the VEX Robotics IQ Robotics Competition. In eighth grade she joined a team in her hometown of Prospect, CT and never looked back, competing in the VEX Robotics V5 Robotics Competition through high school. Initially interested in notebooking, VEX Robotics V5 further solidified her passion for STEM through ample opportunities to code autonomous sequences. For Yasmeen, however, it wasn’t just the engineering aspects of VEX Robotics competitions that led to her acceptance at Harvard, it was the “soft” skills as well. “I would say communication and teamwork were a huge skill that I developed through VEX Robotics. I think there were, of course, going to be disagreements on the team and being able to work through those is a skill that I will definitely be using not just in college, but my whole life,” she said. “In addition to that, I think working under pressure or problem solving in very high stress situations is really the most important skill that I’ll be carrying over with me into college.” Just as VEX Robotics competitions led Yasmeen to pursue a computer science degree, her love for advocacy work drew her to the RECF Student Advisory Board, and later a double major in Government. She told us that, “I saw that there was an opportunity to be on a board where I could take my experiences with robotics and apply them to help other students and to make potential changes in how the RECF approaches robotics. And that was just a really exciting way to combine my passion for student government and other organizations where I get to be a voice for students.”
And her advocacy work did not stop at the RECF. Yasmeen also served on the Connecticut Board of Education, where her responsibilities included serving as a voice for 500,000 students attending school in the state at state board meetings. There, she would give input on legislation before it was enacted. It was there that she discovered how entwined computer science and the machinations of government truly were. Yasmeen felt that lawmakers often had little understanding of the technology that they were legislating for, and she now sees possibility in a “tech translator” role. “I do see myself working with a tech company potentially and helping them develop their technology, but then also explaining to policymakers how that technology works, because I think a big issue is making sure policymakers understand how technology works,” she said. “A lot of policymakers who I’ve talked to say I’m too old for this, and I don’t understand how this works. And so I’m hoping to be one of those people who helps develop it, but then also helps explain it so that they can properly make policies around it.”
During the 2023-2024 competition season, the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation saw its highest participation in the VEX IQ Robotics Competition (Elementary & Middle School) and VEX V5 Robotics Competition (Middle School & High School). Welcoming over 30,000 teams, these programs truly have an impact on students around the world. These core competition programs are the foundation of the continuum of robotics offerings that we provide for students and educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This tremendous impact is not possible without the support of our many partners and sponsors in the community. In 2023-2024, we were able to continue our partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Honeywell Futureshaper Robotics Program through both funding and mentorship for VEX V5 Robotics Competition teams in Arizona. The partnership also included the 3rd annual FutureShaper Robotics Competition, in which 150 students from schools across Arizona competed on the iconic Chase Field.
GEARS IN MOTION: A RECORD BREAKING SEASON
MEET YASMEEN: FROM THE RECF STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD TO THE IVY LEAGUE
“I do see myself working with a tech company potentially and helping them develop their technology, but then also explaining to policymakers how that technology works, because I think a big issue is making sure policymakers understand how technology works.”
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