GART was the first place I chose to code my destiny, and it’s also where I’ve stayed the longest. More than just a club, GART is an inspiration and a knowledge charging station for robotics for the young generation of Vietnam. Notably, GART is also the cradle of pride – the only FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) team in Vietnam.

When I first came to GART, I was just a kid passionate about coding but with limited knowledge. Thanks to the dedicated guidance of my seniors, I was quickly equipped with basic and advanced knowledge of robot mechanisms and programming. With everyone’s support, I progressed rapidly and was ready to join everyone in the battle. “Vex Robotics Challenge” – a regional competition on robot programming and design was my biggest achievement at GART. The standard match would be 2 alliances of 2 teams competing against each other with the challenge of testing the skills of self-created robots in a limited time. With all our efforts and amazing teammates, we surpassed 40 teams to reach the Think Award for the best programming team. More than an award, this is recognition for my efforts throughout years of learning and continuous development in both expertise and technique.

Besides participating in competitions, I also had the opportunity to contribute to the GART community as a member of the Organizing Committee. In particular, the most memorable experience was when I became a mentor at GART CAMP, a summer camp sponsored by the US Center in Hanoi. My job was to guide more than 50 participants on how to build robots. To conclude the summer camp, my teammates and I decided to organize a competition for participants to operate the robots they had built in the previous days. Looking at the creative initial products that I had personally guided, I felt the joy of imparting knowledge and also witnessed the joy of young people when they built their own robots. This was an extremely meaningful experience.

Joining the club has opened up a whole new world for me, where I not only learned knowledge but also saw the importance of teamwork and creative problem-solving to overcome coding errors and other issues. Each time I overcame a challenge, I felt more passionate, confident, and determined about the path I had chosen.