Rachel UR- From Robots to the Sea

Hello, everyone! My name is Rachel Meister and I just turned twenty this month. I was born and raised in the state of Florida, but I don't know where my life will take me to next. My plan is to become an oceanographer that specializes on the arctic sea.

2014 robot designed to throw an exercise ball

In high school I was in a technology academy that had a have emphasis on engineering. I quickly joined the local robotics team and fell in love with the field. My team went through a company called FIRST robotics. FIRST is a world wide movement to get kids more involved in fields like engineering and programming. They design a game for you to play every year which can range from shooting basketballs into a hoop to climbing up a steal pyramid. These robots weren't  little either. They normally weighed anywhere from 90-120 pounds and could reach over 6 feet high. Below is a video of our 2013 robot climbing a steal pyramid. This robot weighed 97 pounds.

 I went into my senior year convinced that I was going to be an engineer before deciding that the water was where I belonged. Ocean engineering was my fall back ,about half way through my senior year, and by the time I graduated I had switched fully into marine science. You can say I've done a complete 180 from where I was heading to where I am now.

My best friend Courtney (left) and I (right) the day that we graduated highschool