This week’s Student Feature Friday is senior Ryan Taylor, who is passionate about Robotics, Music, and the Vermont Adaptive Ski program. Giving back to others and mentoring younger students is what unites all three passions. Ryan is an active participant in band, playing Alto Saxophone, an instrument that his older brother introduced him to when he was a student in Holliston. Ryan is taking on the role of Vice-President Student Conductor this year and sees it as an opportunity to display his talents while supporting others in the band. In addition to HHS, he plays in the Blackstone Valley Community Concert band and the Lions All State band.
When Ryan isn’t playing music he is heavily engaged in Robotics. As a Captain of the Robotics Team this year, he will be responsible for planning, scheduling and building a competition ready robot with his team. The build season is intense and once they receive the parts to build the frame/chassis, the team spends nights and weekends over a 6-week period to pull it all together. The team must follow strict guidelines with restrictions on the timeline, size, weight and even locations where they are approved to purchase additional parts for their design. This 6-week race to the finish leads them to competition and the excitement of seeing all their hard work come to fruition. Although Ryan will be graduating this year and pursuing engineering in the future, he hopes to come back and mentor a Robotics team one day and I have no doubt that he will make a significant difference to future generations.
Q: During our conversation you described music as your mental break and happiness. How has music helped you develop into the person you are today?
A: Music has made me more confident in what I do because in band there is not a lot of room to hide, so you really have to accept your mistakes. It has also taught me that it is a lot easier to have fun than it is stress out over every mistake you make, so I try to laugh at my own mistakes, learn from it, and move on. It makes life a lot easier.
Q: Given the immense time commitment involved, what is the most rewarding aspect of participating on the robotics team?
A: There are a few things that keep me going throughout our build season. One of them is the moment when you put your robot on the field and finally get to see it work! There is no better feeling than seeing the mechanisms you have spent the last 2 months working on, on the field, scoring points for your team. Seeing everyone’s faces turn from fear to pure joy after it all comes together is one of the things that gets me through the nights when it’s 9:30 and we’re still in the shop, trying to make it all work. The other thing that drives me throughout the season is seeing the underclassman go from knowing very little about robotics, to being able to confidently design, build, test, and rebuild a robot. It is similar to why I volunteer with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, where I teach people with all sorts of abilities to ski. It is amazing to see someone go from complete terror of the thought of going down a mountain blind, or without the use of their legs or arms. But it is so rewarding to see their smiles when they come back into the lodge after a day of skiing. I get this same feeling when I get to see our team members learn throughout the build season and it all comes together when they get to competition. There is nothing more rewarding than that feeling.
Q: You have taken on a leadership role this year as a captain of the Robotics Team. What does the leadership role entail and what skills do you find essential in order to succeed in this role?
A: I am one of 3 captains for our team and this has been an amazingly difficult yet rewarding challenge for me. As a captain I plan, schedule, and run all of our meetings. From pre-season, through build season, all the way to competitions. I am responsible for the recruitment and outreach campaigns our team does, as well as some of our fundraisers. I have brought the team everywhere from the Miller parking lot for Trunk or Treat, to our school football games, and even out to the Boston Children’s Museum. I try to bring our team to every event that will take us to spread our passion for robotics. I also am responsible for making sure that our robot gets finished in time. We only have 6 weeks to design, build, and test our robot so we need to make every hour count. This means we, as captains, need to decide exactly how much time to spend on each portion of the robot, and we also need to make the final decision on what design we will take on. Our team prides itself on being as student-led as possible, and I think we have done well with that so far. I also need to figure out how all of our members and equipment will get to competitions and keep track of everything while we are there. The most important thing I do is prepare our underclassman to lead the team after my class is gone, this can be a challenge, but it is very rewarding.
Q: Given that you have found a passion for robotics and music, what advice do you have for other students who have yet to find their passion/interests?
A: Keep looking! Take every opportunity you can and at some point along the way you will find something you truly love and once you do, share it with anyone who will listen. Find your passion, share your passion!
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