Do you remember those Lego building blocks that we used when we were kids, and our parents would get annoyed with us if we did not pick them up? Imagine using these Legos in a competition! Mine Gumus’, Associate DevOps Engineer at GreenStone’s East Lasing office, daughter and team did just that – they used Legos for her first robotics competition at age nine! Now at age twelve she is competing at the 2024 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) world championship robotics competition in Houston, Texas.
“In her early years, she had a passion for constructing objects using Legos. When we discovered that her school endorsed FIRST, we promptly enrolled her in the school’s one of the robotics team,” Gumus says with a smile.
Robotics team getting ready to compete!
Throughout the past four years Gumus has been a volunteer on the team helping with different things like snacks, lunches, setting up events, and of course cheering the team on.
Gumus is proud to see her daughter not only compete at such a high level, but develop key skills in life like teamwork, problem solving, and public speaking. She has developed a lot of friendships along the way as well. Gumus says, “As a mom I am happy to see my daughter socialize and be a more outgoing person.”
Gumus's daughter competing.
The cost to run a program like this can be hefty, GreenStone was able to help lighten the cost a little bit by sponsoring. “I want to say thanks to GreenStone. There is a lot that goes into a competition like this that the school district is not always able to provide. I am glad that GreenStone volunteered for that,” Gumus voices.
GreenStone wishes Gumus and the robotics team the best of luck as they travel almost twenty hours to the world championship in April! Learn more about our community outreach and engagement efforts by visiting Open Fields Blog | GreenStone FCS.
