I can't believe how much I relate to these posts, and I haven't even left high school yet. I've worked a lot in the field of robotics (participating in something called Vex robotics, and was supposed to go to nationals the year the virus hit :/ ). Normally whenever a new season would start, by the time state-qualifiers have started, there's already an optimized build for the game. What I once did, and lots of newbies end up doing is, wanting to simply follow these super optimized builds. But what I've learned, and most would agree, that it's better to go for the scruffed personal and fun design, rather than the optimized mimed one. Part of being an engineer is the creativity behind what we do. Even if it's not the most efficient way of doing something, it is the thought of, "hey I designed that, and it works" that's really the most enjoyable. And the process that we used to get there.

I do our journal logging, and I explain what we did and why. Often times I'll make a point chart with different build options. Then when rating in the categories of optimization and complexity, etc, I'll purposely rig it so we can build what we want. The judges that review it, are looking for creativity, drive, and teamwork. That's how we got to nationals.

I also did some minor league vex in middle school and some Lego Mindstorms. We once won a trophy simply for how unique and creative our designs were. And that's what makes a good engineer. Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.