LIFE
10 — Wednesday, May 4, 2022 — North Pointe
Go Moe Go: Robotics team makes it to States quarterfinal after great season By Annabelle Julien & Gabe Goode SECTION EDITOR & INTERN North and South’s joint robotics team, the Gearheads, is celebrating a successful 20th season. The team won a series of competitions, qualifying them to compete at the state level where they became quarterfinalists. Senior team captain Robert Hays expressed his satisfaction with the season and pride for his team's accomplishments throughout the year. “For the first time ever, we were the number one ranked seat at a district event and won as such,” Hays said. “We were at states, we were doing really well and I’m really proud of our team's performance as states.” With an impressive season under their belt, Gearheads faculty advisor Jason Wolfsen was pleased with their in-season results. It was a tough road to get to the state competition, but he maintains that the season went well. “There's two competitions that we have to participate in where we gather points to get into the state competition because the state takes the top 160 teams out of 458 teams,” Wolfsen said. “So, we just happened to qualify this year for that.”
Although the team had much success, with trophies and titles to show for it, building their winning robot, Moe, presented challenges because of the team’s low numbers, according to North Junior and team member Chloe Harb. “Build season did get stressful at times due to having less members after COVID-19 and many seniors graduating,” Harb said. “But, I learned so much over the weeks and I think it almost forced us into learning as much as we can which gave us that push we needed to do our best this year.” Despite the minor inconveniences toward the beginning of the season, Harb expressed her appreciation about the team's success over the course of the season and emphasized the significance of the experience on her life. “The euphoria of seeing the scores come up was something I've never experienced anywhere else,” Harb said. “The energy in the room was phenomenal, it really validated all the hard work we put into the robot leading up to the event.”
Making his Marc on Germany
COURTESY OF CHLOE HARB
TEAM WORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK | Validating their hard work during the season, the Gearheads took home gold at the FIRST robotics competition. The robot’s operator, Chloe Harb, was in a special situation and says the feeling of winning the competition was unlike anything she’s experienced. “The energy in the room was phenomenal,” Harb said. “It really validated all the hard work we put into the robot leading up to the event.”
By Olivia Dodenhoff & Christina Shea STAFF REPORTERS
From a young age, junior Marc Mueller has been deeply passionate about German culture. At age 12, Mueller took it upon himself to learn the German language. His interest first sparked due to his family’s German roots. “My grandma was speaking with her family who lives in Germany and that got me interested in the language,” Mueller said. “The culture was interesting too. My grandma would always make German food.” Accustomed to the language and culture, Mueller wanted to expand his knowledge of the German language. To learn more, Mueller took up German classes beginning his freshman year where he was introduced to the National German Exam. Even though this exam wasn’t a requirement, Mueller made the decision to demonstrate his knowledge of the German language. “The really devoted German students decided to take the exam,” Mueller said. “I took it freshman year, and I got the bronze level. Then, I took it this year, and I got a silver medal for the exam.” The exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions, a reading test and a listening test, all taken from authentic German sources such as podcasts, TV shows, news broadcasts or news articles. German teacher Susan Sipos explains that the exam tests students’ full understanding of the language, as materials are not simplified for students and presented exactly as they were to the German-speaking public. “The test measures the students' ability to extract meaning and make inferences from authentic German listening and reading texts in a high-pressure scenario,” Sipos said. Mueller recalls his freshman year German class having a German exchange student who participated in the Congress-
Bundestag Youth Exchange, a scholarship program that allows 250 students from Germany to go to school in America, along with 250 students from America who are able to attend school in Germany. Ever since hearing about the scholarship, Mueller knew of the amazing opportunities it could bring him in the future. Over the last few months, Mueller com m itted
“I was super surprised because this scholarship is super competitive,” Mueller said. “It was kind of crazy when I found out that I'd be going to Germany for the whole next year.” Sipos describes the various scholarship opportunities available to German students similar to Mueller. In addition to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, students have the opportunity to receive scholarships through the National German Exam and the German National Honor Society. “A high score on the National Exam in combination with, for example, participation in German National Honor Society here at North, may result in a student receiving college scholarships,” Sipos said. “The top national scorers on the exam can receive a scholarship to study in Germany for a summer during high school.” With his scholarship next year, Mueller plans to live with a German host family who will select him based on the essays and personal interests written on his application, making sure he is a good fit for their family. He will attend a German high school, and hopes to fully immerse himself in German culture and language. While doing so, he will also take on the role of a youth ambassador OLIVIA DODENHOFF & for the United States. GABBY MILLER “Not only will I be learning German culture, I'll be spreading American culture too while representing my school and representing my country,” Mueller said. himself to the r igorous scholarship appl icat ion process of the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, which consisted of several essays, medical records and personal information. After submitting his application in December, Mueller was chosen as a scholarship recipient on April 1.
