2/15-16 TAI-VEX League: Scorekeeper Volunteer

During the last two days, I volunteered at the final competition of the TAI-VEX League for both the middle school and high school sessions. The whole league competition spans from October to February with 3 competition days, one in Taipei and two in Taichung. The ones I volunteered for were all in Taichung, each being the first and the last competition of the TAI-VEX League.

Scorekeeper referee was the job I volunteered for, we had to watch for violations during a match, and we also had to confirm the scores recorded with the teams on both sides. It was fun, yet it was difficult to keep up with all the moving robots while recording any violations.

This competition session was a bit different from the previous one. It focused on the Skills Challenges rather than the Qualification Matches because the main idea of the competition is to let teams try and beat their Skills Challenge high score to rank higher in the world ranking. Since I am in charge of the qualification matches, there was a long break between the morning and afternoon matches for teams to focus on Skills Challenges.

After all the matches ended, I also helped clean up the arena by taking down the competition field and tables. All the time spent cleaning up made me realize how difficult it is to set up an event like this. There are hundreds of name tags needed, and tons of wires need to be taped to the ground. All the hard work before the competition was the key to making an event successful.

I am really glad I came to help; it was a very enjoyable experience. If I have the chance to come again, I will definitely do so. Thanks to the event organizers who made this event possible.

1/25 FLL Explore Competition Volunteering

The First Competition nationals are held once every year around January. It has five consecutive days of competition, each with a different competition category. The one I participated in on January 25th was the FLL Explore and FLL Discover category, in which the participants are around 6-10 years old.

My volunteering position was team check-in and photographer. I registered with my friend, and we were both assigned the same job. The check-in time spans from the morning to the afternoon because the competition allowed teams to check in at least one hour before their presentation. This helps the teams that are presenting in the afternoon save time, as they don't have to check in in the morning first.

Our job was to confirm the participants' ID to the name on the registration sheet, including both the coaches and the students. We also have to count the number of people who actually came after all teams complete check-in, so the event organizer can pay the exact ticket money for the competition arena.

Some people also come to ask questions about the competition schedule, and this is also our duty to answer them or guide them to the places. 

We are also encouraged to take pictures of the teams at their pit because sometimes it is hard to predict when and where some interesting moments will occur. In fact, I did take some photos where the students were introducing their project to other people and they seemed so into it.

Lastly, at the award ceremony, we helped with delivering the medals to the judges who were handing the awards to the teams. There were about 60 awards so we worked really hard to keep up with the pace of the ceremony.

Overall, the volunteering experience was great! The volunteer manager was really kind and nice when assigning our jobs. She guided us through the specific details and chatted with us during the lunch break. I had a really fun time volunteering and will definitely come again next year.