Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 the fourth annual FIRST Global competition took place through a virtual format
We obtained: 27th place worldwide, # 4 in the American continent, and # 2 in Central America. Also, we won:
*Best Mentor Award to professor Henglyns Henderson Lemus*
*Award for completion of more than 80% of the challenges*
Participating virtually has not come easy although with great determination. At first, we were unable to complete the challenges due to a lack of internet connection. From difficulty in affording internet packages every week, to heavy rains, electricity outages and lockdowns. To boost morale each students lead a challenge. This action awakened the leadership within team members. This competition year was a wave of fear and uncertainty against our desire to continue.
We had two types of challenges: social challenges, and technical challenges. Social media challenges encouraged us to share more about us through creative mediums and they had to be completed in 2-3 days. We discovered many talents within our team: writing, acting, we planted trees, we contacted a government representative, we created a poem dedicated to STEM, and much more.
Technical challenges required more effort and time and were worth more points. Some challenges included flying a paper airplane as far as possible, designing a helmet for firemen, and creating a pet food dispenser. To complete these challenges, we had to use CAD software, and only one student had previously used it. Some of these challenges took more than 35 hours of work to complete.
We are excited and pumped to finish up this fourth competition. Our team worked hard to complete as many challenges as possible. All of this despite living in a remote area where we often experience no electricity and no internet connection. We are blessed that our team members are healthy and expanding their knowledge in STEM! Read more about our competition run in our blog.