Testimonials

Statements, memories, and experiences from past members.

Edison Fuh:

Robotics has been a constant highlight of all 4 of my years at Pioneer. It has taught me a variety of things, all of which I perceive as being good life skills. The best thing about it though was the fact that I was able to have fun throughout all of the work I did. The fun of robotics doesn't solely come from the process of making a functional robot, it’s the problem solving and the teamwork that it takes to get there. 

Haydon Behl:

It’s impossible to sum up what three years of commitment has taught me. Participating in FRC redeveloped my outlook on STEM as a whole. I was on the edge before joining with no prior knowledge of robotics, but my time on the team was the most comprehensive engineering experience I could have asked for. Joining The Apes of Wrath is the perfect introduction for undecided students searching for a broader entry point into their field. Though I initially joined to sharpen coding skills, a huge revelation was that I really strived the most in team communication skills as I got better at group coordination. It got difficult at times to apply myself as a socially awkward mega nerd, but growing passion for the team’s combined effort molds you into the tier of mega nerd capable of engaging in a productive work groove with your fellow nerd partners. Nothing beats the energy of pumping code non-stop with pals till your fingers go sore or the mechanism runs. Without a doubt, the technical and group skills I’ve grown into with the team will carry over into every institution and profession I work towards going forward. Real experience gained in project development has taught me the time management techniques required to stay on track with deadlines—and more often than not, for the push to get back on schedule. I’m glad I can move forward with my career in computer science with confidence in my ability to write C++ and C# code, and it’s exciting to know someday I’ll be returning to help the team as a FIRST alum.

Tyler Biesemeyer:

Looking back, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of Team 668 and participating in FIRST Robotics. Joining the Apes of Wrath has encouraged me to pursue a career in computer science, and being a part of the team has helped me develop technical skills as well as teamwork that I can use in college and beyond. Working on the robot has allowed me to practice and expand my knowledge of code while also exposing me to new branches of engineering. Being a part of the team was a great experience, and I wish I could continue being an Ape next year.

Qingyuan Cao:

In many ways being on the team redirected my goals for the future as a CS major and a software engineer. My experience has made me discover a passion that I have in mechanical engineering and design that I never knew I had. Originally, I had joined the team to hang out with friends with a mild interest in programming, but I ended up staying because of how much I enjoyed learning about robotics. Thinking that I was only a member for 2 years really makes me wish that I had joined my Freshmen year and I think that really shows how much the team has affected me.

While on the team, I learned about everything that engineers go through from prototyping to field testing which isn’t something that I could’ve experienced elsewhere. I learned how to be a leader and how to work with others. Above all else, I think something I should point out is how much the mentors affected my experience on the team. I really liked how they never forced their help or knowledge onto us when there was a problem and instead had the patience to show us what was wrong and walk us through how we should fix it. Because of that, the robots that our team makes truly feel like our accomplishment. Looking back, if it were not for robotics, my life would be completely different from how it is now, so I am very thankful that I met everyone that I did and learned everything that I have.

Johnny Williams:

All the time I have spent on this team has definitely changed me as a person. When I joined in the 8th grade it was a completely different experience from my middle school life. It took me a couple of months to become comfortable with the team, but when I did they became a second family. When I became a machinist in my junior year it was extremely intense. We would be milling for 9+ hours on the weekends. But in the end, it was worthwhile because we were able to pump out the robot in the time we did. It was a great experience working side by side with someone for so long, building that sense of comradery. No matter how hard the work was, it was worthwhile because we worked together.

Joey Dirck:

I first became interested in robotics around the second grade, when my family would go to my cousin’s football games at Pioneer and we’d see the T-shirt shooter milling about, shootin’ up t-shirts for annual fundraisers that were probably ended in the 90’s. I had planned on joining the robotics team at Pioneer High since I was about eight years old.

When I did finally join, I didn’t do a whole lot, just kinda sat around, but the seniors at the time talked to me. They took me under their collective wing by the time build season started, and they taught me everything there has to know about robotics.

The first year was all imprecise tools, we used to cut all our metal on a chop-saw that sits in the woodshop, and we used drill-presses for holes and stepper bits to fit bearings, and though this wasn’t the most technical setup, it was a lot of fun, and honestly, I think it helped teach me how to work hard. Eventually, I learned to lathe and eventually I learned to mill, and just this year I learned a bit of Onshape, which goes to show that you never stop learning. 

I learned to be a far more assertive person in the role of mechanical captain and as a coach in just the past few months, and I only became the relatively social person I am today because of my first build season. I gained significantly more confidence in the person I am today throughout each year of robotics.

Robotics taught me a lot of technical skills and a lot of social skills, but it solidified that engineering is something I wanted to do. I doubted I could actually be an engineer on account of all the math and physics and thermodynamics and whatnot involved. Robotics taught me that this isn’t the case, and my fellow students and mentors taught me all about engineering and helped strongly guide my college search/application process, and helped me choose to major in manufacturing engineering, which is one-hundred percent right for me. Furthermore, the constant whimsy of the students and mentors I have become good friends with, especially Mr. Weissman, helps keep me inspired as I take the next step of my life.

Robotics has not only changed the person I am fundamentally, but helped guide me to doing what I actually want to do with my life in the future, and through far more than just the principles of engineering.

Tessa Shank:

Robotics has been a big part of my life these past four years, and I am proud to have been a part of the Apes of Wrath. Over time, I have learned critical skills in machining, leadership, and teamwork. Room 500 has been a home away from home, and I have learned so much from teammates, mentors, and teachers alike. I had assumed that robotics would be something for my brother, an activity that he would enjoy while I found my own interests. However, I was most pleasantly surprised to be welcomed into the team, and grow to learn and love robotics and the field of engineering. 

Most of my skill today is owed to Matthew, a boy who drew the short straw and had to train the freshmen. Through his dedication and patience with my peers and I, I learned many essential things. I learned to identify and use tools. I learned to help build a competition-ready robot. I learned to machine on one of the biggest mechanical beasts I have ever seen. I have learned to lead others the way I was lead, and teach others the way I was taught. Much of this is thanks to him and others, for being tolerant of me and helping me plenty along the way. 

When I’m in college, I know that I will look back fondly on my time with the Apes, and I will be sure to return as an alumnus of FIRST. I know that I will miss the build season, spending the day with my best friend, singing along to every song as we create the parts for our robot. I will miss competition. Scouting other robots, and watching their every move as the quals march onwards, and cheering for our team in a cacophony of monkey sounds and waving arms. I can’t wait to see the team continue to thrive, compete, and create robot after robot. I am confident that the Apes of Wrath will continue to produce tomorrow’s graduates, innovators, and creators.

Johnathan Kreidenweis:

Words cannot explain how much this team means to me. When I started, I knew no one. I only joined because one of my friends was. Little did I know that decision would launch me into one of the best experiences I have known. The acquaintances turned into friends, the friends into family. That bond is what really drove me to show up every day, and made adversities or long work nights worth it. Robotics has let me work on things that I have enjoyed since I was a little kid, but to a much larger scale. It opened my eyes to the world of STEM and engineering.

This team really put me out of my comfort zone and changed who I am as a person. In my freshman year, I was shy and introverted, scared to speak up and ask to help. But now, I have seen that speaking and being social is what makes teamwork. If it weren't for all of my teammates showing me how to put myself out there, I probably wouldn't have gotten my leadership position, to which I am eternally grateful. I also learned many essential life skills during my time on the team. The most prevalent skill would definitely have to be time management. I learned the importance of work life balance.

All in all, I am extremely proud of the development of the team over the past four years.  We started only with the loft, working with hand tools, but the addition of the machine shop has allowed us to really push our limits, and I am excited to see how we will redefine our limits in the future.

Tom Elkayam:

Looking at my experience on this team rationally, it was very practical and useful. During this time I learned things that I could have dreamt to understand in a normal high school curriculum. In particular, one thing that I started to learn in freshman year, and have since not stopped learning thanks to this team is a firm understanding of tools and machines that I will be expected to know and use in the industry. Due to the team, I have been able to learn how to use and have gained more experience in; angle grinders, CnC mills, manual mills, CnC Routers, hand drills, drill presses, CAD software, soldering equipment, wiring equipment, various wrench tools, laser cutters, and many more. While also on this team I learned very important non-technical skills that I will most likely use until I get dementia. Thanks to this team I have learned how bodies of teams interact with one another (both as a subordinate, and as a team leader) in order to complete a large project, and how invaluable it is that different expertise can communicate efficiently and effectively their needs, goals, and timelines in order to complete such tasks. Also important is a logistic understanding I have gained while on this team, I have handled part order forms amounting to expenses that the student body treasurer has ever handled (I asked him), I have created preflight checklists for the operation of a robot, I have also made and written packing lists and stock counts of components in a manner that allows for effective use of old components to save money on new ones. These points mark the major learning points that I have found invaluable during my time on this team, however, there are also smaller things I've learned as well, such as running a new CAM on the CnC mill in the air above the part to check for error, how to use a screwdriver to take off Anderson power pole clips for reuse, how to separate a zip tie, what solder gauge I should use with a wire gauge, how to zero on a part by just scratching the surface with an endmill, how to construct an effective voltage regulator to filter out issues, arranging resistors to avoid too much current pull on a solenoid, and other little things that also add to the experience.

From a more personal standpoint, I joined this team not knowing what to expect with Joey Dirck and my brother, Ben Elkayam. I was welcomed into what I would call a family because that's what a FIRST team is, I basically lived with all these mentors and students for four amazing years, and if I could redo high school, my first step would be to join again. I was welcomed onto the team with open arms, involved in any inside joke that was already made, and got to make a few myself along the way. I met some people I never intend to forget and will always thank for their company. No matter how much I complain about the team and its issues, I will always love this team. Underestimating the experience and value I would get out of the team as a freshman was the biggest and best mistake I had ever made. There are experiences from this team that I will never forget, John Terrnie dropping a taco on the ground and mourning it, me nearly flattening Spencer when were roomed together and I rolled on top of him, Max Kwon making it into MIT and buying out all the McDonalds nuggets, Jan and Matthew rebuilding several other teams bots to get them back in the game, Joey Dirck and I laughing in the woodshop at 10:00 PM over a dumb joke, and so many other priceless events. This team allowed me to not only grow as an engineer from the information I gained, but also as a person, as I got to talk to so many different people on the team, each with their own goals, and attitudes, from all the students to the mentors who never stopped supporting me even when I did some intellectually questionable stuff. If there is one thing to take away from my time on this team, it is that it was never about building the robot, that's a bonus, it was about growing as a person both intellectually and morally so that you can become the best you, you can be.

Ben Elkayam:  

My time on this team is up, and it is very bittersweet. First of all let me just make it clear Robotics, as you all very well know, is an immense commitment of time and energy and I'd like to just spiel for a moment on how I am very grateful for all the time you guys have put in. Every single moment I'd say was worth it. Specifically, robotics taught me how to be both a better engineer and a better person.

In terms of engineering, I'd say few people graduating high school will have the advantage that I currently have. I am already pretty well versed in a lot of basic mechanisms and have developed a useful mental log of designs I have utilized on robots, giving me plenty of experience with those mechanisms. Something that I hope you continue to do is to let us fail. My best lessons have been from my failures. These lessons say with you the longest and teach you the most, at least this is the case for me.

Robotics has also taught me how to be more of a person. This sounds pretty weird but I was able to sharpen a lot of my professional and casual social skills through robotics. Room 500 has been a place where I am able to develop friendships that will likely follow me into college and beyond. My ability to deal with a stressful or difficult situation has also become much more professional, while I can't stop the pitfall of frustration, I can at least hold it back till we leave the pit. Robotics I believe has truly improved me as a person by helping me mature into a (usually) rational and competent person.

I can see why certain people decide to spend decades with this team. The Apes of Wrath, are such an important outlet for creativity, social energy, and ambition that it becomes very hard to become unattached after spending so much time gaining the knowledge and skills to improve yourself as a person, both in your own life and in the professional world. If I had to make a final analogy of my experience on this team, I would want my career to be as much fun as the time I have spent working with this team and its mentors.