F1 In Schools Competition!

Dear Readers,
On Friday we left for Griffith college at 7.45am. Why? For the Formula1 in Schools competition of course! We had been working for this moment for a few months at this stage, designing cars, doing PR (radio), making a portfolio and putting together a stand and uniforms.

Our car came back to us on Tuesday. And it didn't look good there were a few problems to be had. For example it was to thin in places. Plus we had to sand it, add the wheels and paint it too. So not a good start. Plus we were preparing for the Mini Company Competition and the Drama Final! So stress levels were pushed to the max and everyone was on edge. But miraculously we made it through without any arguments!

When we arrived at the venue I had learned from the day before and just got to work without looking at what the other stands or cars were like. I knew it was for my own benefit. So we set up, had a briefing by Gillian (the organiser) and then the competition began.

The first part of the competition we took part in was the portfolio presentation. This is where two judges come up to our table and look at our stand and more importantly the portfolio. I feel this was the worst part of our day, properly because we had left the portfolio till last minute and because it was the first thing we were judged on.

The next was our car been sent to be scrutinised. We knew it had failed on one section of the rules, and we weren't certain about another part, we failed both and another part which nearly everyone failed on because it wasn't explained properly in the build guidelines. This gave us a total of 35/40. This isn't bad considering most teams did worse.

The next and most exciting part of the competition was the race! When you race your car you have four go's to get your time. You only race against another team for the fun of it! Which is nice because it takes the pressure off a bit. We chose Sandra to press the release button because she had the best reaction time when we did a test on the web. This went well, our car was a little slow because the car was a bit heavy. But other than that it ran really well.

The final part of our judging was the all important verbal presentation. We headed down to the room and waited nervously outside to be called in. We joke a bit because we were so nervous. My heart was beating furiously and the second I stepped through that door I converted the nerves to adrenaline and I was a women on a mission! I think this was the most successful part of our day! We showed them our slideshow of pictures and each talked well and answered the questions with ease. I was really pleased and as we left the room to enjoy the rest of the day, we were literally jumping for joy.

Afterwards when the pressure was lifted we headed up back to the hall and talked to the other teams and did reaction games on the track (which I got the second best time of the day!). It was nice but it was interesting to see who took this competition seriously, like really seriously! The question there I suppose was were they taking it too seriously? Those who this question could be put to didn't really in gage with anyone till after all the judging and they were silent and focused at the track, like this was the race of their lives. I understand being focused at the track because you need to press the release button as quick as possible. But when your "focusing" gets to the extent where your putting the other team off, that is taking it too seriously. Also in my opinion, were young and free, this is supposed to be a learning experience, not something to take too seriously. I had fun, maybe not for the whole journey there, but for the majority of the day I enjoyed meeting new people and putting my newly learned skills to the test (that's from doing drama, business and tech). I think it's all about finding the balance. Balancing, between fun and competition, study and social life or milk and hot water for that perfect cup of tea..:L I suppose in the beginning stages of anything finding that balance is hard, sometimes really difficult. But you get there eventually.

Thankfully once they had the results they didn't do any of that horrible dramatic pausing or anything like that. But unfortunately our efforts weren't enough, didn't get through to the nationals. Congratulations though to the other teams who got through, especially team Ealu, the other St. Wolstan's team. I will be honest and say that I'm disappointed that our hard work wasn't enough, I suppose we needed more time to balance the scales between the car and the rest of the work like the PR and stuff. But that said I'm incredible proud of my team and sorry for the pressure I sometimes put them under, we can now rest.

So let me know what you think of the question 'how serious is too serious?' or if you have an opinion on the subject of 'balance'.

Thank you,
Roisin.P.
P.S. If you want to know more about f1 in schools click here.