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The 2020 FRC Season, In Review

So this school year, I decided that I wanted to be more involved in school activities, and I had decided to join the robotics team, as invited by another team member. I talked to the coach and was informed of the pre-season meeting date. I pretty much went into robotics blinded, having no idea what I was doing. Although I knew I came in knowing I wanted to be a programmer, that soon changed. A few pre-season meetings commenced, and then it was already the first practice. It was very evident that we had a lot of new programmers, and our lead programmer was more involved at first, but then I found myself mentoring the new ones after the first few weeks. Now keeping in mind that Java is not an easy language to learn, and I understand the struggles students may face jumping right into it with no prior programming experience. Doing as un-suggested by a coach, we started them on Codecademy and one-to-one sessions. The lead programmer would do more of the complex topics, while I would he
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My CareerONE Experience (First Job)

Well, the time has finally come. CareerONE ended last Thursday (July 25th). It was a pleasure to be apart of a group of like-minded youth, aiming for the same goal, success. I am proud to proclaim that I have completed CareerONE at 100% and earned a full stipend of $1,020. What is CareerONE you may ask? It is a summer program for youth aged 14 to 17, which provides and trains teens with the necessary skills employers look for, as well as life skills. Some of these include FDIC Money Smart,  Youth@Work  Talking Safety, ACT KeyTrain, a program that helps students to not regress during the summer months, and other necessary skills such as following a dress code, showing up on time, being respectful, being productive, and producing quality work. Most importantly, how to write a resume, fill out a job application, and how to interview properly. Thanks to CentraCare Health, approximately 120 youth were able to experience a mock interview with positive feedback and minor critiquing, so that t

Planefinder Radar–First Thoughts

It all started when I applied for a free ADS-B receiver through Plane Finder, a UK based company that provides real-time flight tracking and statistics. Ever wonder how Plane Finder works? Planes flying overhead send ADS-B signals from takeoff to landing, containing various flight parameters such as speed, altitude, heading and barometric pressure. Receivers on the ground pick up these signals, decode the raw packets, and send them to various flight tracking providers such as Plane Finder, FlightAware, and FlightRadar24. This all happens in real time. But there’s one problem: there are not many receivers around to pick up all the signals from a whole flight, leading to gaps in the information. This is why Plane Finder sent me an ADS-B receiver for better coverage in the St. Cloud Minnesota Area. It took about 3 weeks from first email to shipment. It then took another week to plan and get installed. My thoughts on it? It work’s pretty great. Last night I messaged the St. Cloud Airport a