Spotlight Week
Spotlight Week was pretty awesome this year. We had a few glitches every here and there (such as music refusing to play), but I guess that’s just bad luck. I loved hearing Mouse’s experiences with the team; I guess you could say it was Throwback Tuesday, in a way. But the only thing I can say that was more entertaining was having Mr. McDougall make Ants on a Log – or, based on how it turned out, Ants in a Swamp. I was kinda bummed that not many people came on the first four days – especially on Wednesday (Destruction Day) and Thursday – but the turnout for Friday’s Jankster Rally more than made up for it! As one of the dance leaders, I loved watching everyone come out and get their groove on; not to mention, it helped get me warmed up for some CalGames mascotting. All in all, it was a great week, and I’d like to encourage more people to come next year!
Tamara KawaClass of 2016
I went to four out of the five events at Spotlight Week, and they were all really fun and interesting. On Tuesday, we all gathered in the chapel to hear Mouse, one of the original members of the Janksters, tell us about her experiences with the team and how those experiences have shaped her life. We heard a lot of little anecdotes, and at the end, we all took a picture with her. On Wednesday, there was a booth set up at lunch for any students who wanted to come take common household items apart. I got to take apart a Nerf gun and managed to pull the casing off of an old sander. It was really fascinating to see all of the inner workings for both. Thursday was an amusing day as we watched multiple teachers attempt to make an “Ants on a Log” snack with varying degrees of success. It was a great eye-opener into the importance of specificity when coding with robots. My favorite day of Spotlight Week was most definitely Friday. The Janksters were playing music, and pretty soon, there was a dance party in the middle of Pardini Park. It was a great way for us to bring attention to CalGames, and I know that I had a lot of fun.
Julia HuntClass of 2018
Thoughts on the New Year
Last year, our team had 20-25 student, out of which only 6 were returning veterans. This year, we have 20 veterans (which is over 3 times as much as last year!) and about 20 rookies as well. To be completely honest, I was, and still am, nervous about having such a huge team since we’ve never really had 30+ students (forget 40+) on the team before. At the same time, I’m a little excited to see how much we can improve our team and how we’ll expand this upcoming year. Having triple the amount of veterans from last year, this year’s Build Season and everything before and after that will be a lot smoother. With a lot more Jankster experience, I, personally, feel we’ll be able to expand our opportunities and ideas to include things that weren’t possible last year–like putting googly eyes on our robot!!
Yashna BansalClass of 2017
I am extremely excited to start this new year with so many new students! Since we have many grade levels on our leadership team, it’s awesome to see different perspectives and hear different ideas. Compared to the smallish team we had last year, this is VERY new for us, and I have a feeling that there are many good things to come. In addition, the whole last year, we rookies were the ones being taught, and now we’re going to be the teachers. As frightening as that is, I think all the veterans can agree that we have so much to teach them and can’t wait to see their knowledgable selfs by the end of this year.
Rabab KarimjeeClass of 2017
Thoughts on the New Year
Last year, our team had 20-25 student, out of which only 6 were returning veterans. This year, we have 20 veterans (which is over 3 times as much as last year!) and about 20 rookies as well. To be completely honest, I was, and still am, nervous about having such a huge team since we’ve never really had 30+ students (forget 40+) on the team before. At the same time, I’m a little excited to see how much we can improve our team and how we’ll expand this upcoming year. Having triple the amount of veterans from last year, this year’s Build Season and everything before and after that will be a lot smoother. With a lot more Jankster experience, I, personally, feel we’ll be able to expand our opportunities and ideas to include things that weren’t possible last year–like putting googly eyes on our robot!!
Yashna BansalClass of 2017
I am extremely excited to start this new year with so many new students! Since we have many grade levels on our leadership team, it’s awesome to see different perspectives and hear different ideas. Compared to the smallish team we had last year, this is VERY new for us, and I have a feeling that there are many good things to come. In addition, the whole last year, we rookies were the ones being taught, and now we’re going to be the teachers. As frightening as that is, I think all the veterans can agree that we have so much to teach them and can’t wait to see their knowledgable selfs by the end of this year.
Rabab KarimjeeClass of 2017