On the night of June 26, 2016, 19 students departed from IHS on a 13-hour bus ride to the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee, along with 20 students from DeWitt Middle School, to represent the New York State delegation in the 2016 National TSA Conference.
The advisors of the team—Evie Weinstein, Karen Kiechle, William Sauve, Scott Breigle, Dave Buchner, and Bob Walters—worked painstakingly to provide the students a comfortable, while also affordable, trip.
With over 6,000 passionate and enthusiastic students competing in events ranging from Video Game Design and Biotechnology Design to Extemporaneous Speech and Problem Solving, the IHS and DeWitt Middle School (DMS) students experienced chaos and rushes of adrenaline while hoping for their best in their events.
During the first general session, the conference had a lively and upbeat atmosphere, with hundreds of people rushing to fit into small openings on the grand stage. However, as the week progressed, the excitement dampened and the optimism ceased. It was a tough week of competition; participants woke up at 5 a.m. every morning only to trudge through another day of constant stress and confusion, overpriced food, and lack of direct sunshine.
For many, the grind was visibly too much to bear: there were thousands of drooping heads and eyes struggling to stay open during competition events and general sessions. Only the ear-aching and bass-filled music was able to keep the students awake. It was even worse during the business meeting, a parliamentary procedure of passing amendments and choosing the TSA officers of 2017. People yelled and booed, wanting to go back to their rooms to relax.
Despite the participants’ struggles in trying to stay alert amidst making last-minute adjustments to perfect their competition entries, the IHS and DMS teams still managed to excel in many areas. The IHS chapter finalized in 5 events: Biotechnology Design (7th), Music Production (2nd), Scientific Visualization (4th), System Control Technology (5th), and Technology Bowl, Oral (4th). The DMS chapter finalized in 6 events: CAD Foundations (3rd), Construction Challenge (5th), CO2 Dragster (6th), Environmental Engineering (10th), Junior Solar Sprint (5th), and Website Design (8th). As a delegation, the team finalized in nine group events and two individual events, the latter of which were both earned by Jacob Yoon, a rising 8th grader at DMS, in CAD Foundations and CO2 Dragster.
Although there were several obstacles and conflicts preventing the students from doing their best in their events, overall, the team pulled through and considered this year a success.