The Detroit Championship was an amazing experience that we all were honored to be a part of. Our drive team walked out on to Archimedes field for the first match and started our many qualifying matches. Though there were a few defensive robots and radio issues, we were able to end in 32nd place on our field! Our drive team was focused on the robot, the marketing team was connecting with other teams, and our team ambassador was giving tours to CEOs and presidents of colleges. But during alliance selections, the team was one, the members in the crowd watched our team representatives wait for our number to be called, 2077. 2077. 2077! It was the mantra that repeated in all of our heads. We never heard the numbers spoken aloud. Even so, that moment was a new bond formed for all of us.

It was exciting to see the final rounds of the Championship at Einstein, the field for the top 2 alliances from the 6 fields, we relaxed and had a ton of fun! We were nearly touching Canada when we stood beside the river that an alongside the competition building during our breaks. Our explorations went from the grand spiral like sculpture to the food trucks that were set up on the first two days. At the food trucks we danced, took photos, and ate amazing food. One of us was even a DJ for the day. On the walkway between the food trucks and sculpture, we discovered Detroit was a city of scooters and joined in on the fun! Scootering down the walkway and up the spiral left us out of breath.

At night, we attended team socials. The first team social was the one hosted by FIRST in the building where Einstein field would be setup. Playing frisbee and volleyball with the collection of students from different teams was amazing. Everyone playing was a different person from a different team. No competition or hostile stares to be seen, only good sportsmanship that carried in to the rounds of Jenga played. The following night we went to Robo Prom. Whatever you’re imagining, multiply that energy level by ten. There were people in dresses with LED lights, people in costume, even people in full on prom dresses! Some of our team mates decided to jump on the dance floor and crowd surf to the stage while others of us socialized through card games. At the end of the night, we had a whole team slow dance, and left in good spirits.

On Saturday, our form of socializing was going to a restaurant with arcade. Even though it was only our team, we still had plenty of laughs to share. Then it was time. Time for the finals on Einstein. 930 had made it. We sat by our friends from Mukwonago, cheering with them. First, victory to Mukwonago. Second, a loss. We sat on the edge of seats, waiting for the final results of a close match; and the winner was… 1 point above Mukwonago. We are still so proud of them, and losing by one point is incredible with the difficulty of the game. We were so excited for our friend, but even more excited for the announcement of next year’s game. The game is, drum roll please, infinite recharge! We are so excited to see what this game entails and to keep you updated on what we’re doing until then.