Last year, the SWHS robotics team graduated many of their dedicated members and started the 2019 season without a driver. The driver position on the robotics team is critical because it’s the person that controls the movements of the whole robot during competitions. This year, junior, Ethan Bushman, decided to try out the position. The team is now headed to world championships with Bushman as their main driver.

Bushman’s involvement in robotics began because of his family’s involvement in the program. Ethan’s older brother, Elliot Bushman, was the tech crew leader of the team last year. With encouragement from his brother, Ethan joined the team last year and acted as a pit crew member during competitions. With so many students graduating, including driver, Adam Dzen, Ethan decided to give drive team a try and “see if I was good at it.” Though this is his first year as the main driver, he feels prepared because of all the support that the program receives from mentors, graduates, and fellow students.

Acting as the mechanical sub-team leader and driver, Bushman is nervous for the upcoming world championships. He mentioned that he’s “a little more nervous, there’s a lot more pressure being the driver than just pit crew.” That pressure can be felt by the whole team, as they leave Tuesday morning for world championships in Detroit, Michigan. Their matches will begin on Thursday, and will continue until Saturday. At this event, robotics teams from all over the world come to compete within 8 divisions. Each of the division has the name of a famous scientist, and the winner of each division will compete in Einsteins (finals). Bushman is most looking forward to “the spirit of competition” at championships. The competition will be live streamed online, and more information about world championships can be found at https://www.roboticseducation.org/competition-teams/vex-robotics-world-championship/.