RRJ # 7

1. The team had finally arrived onto the UCSB campus and unloaded everything into the dorm
room. When they unloaded Stinky and tested it out, the thrusters refused to work. It made the
whole team worry but after an hour, it mysteriously worked again. The next morning, they tested
out Stinky again and it malfunctioned as water leaked inside. The team had to fix it before the
competition, but how? Fredi suggested that the team should prepare their speeches instead and
worry about fixing Stinky later. He told the team to walk up randomly to strangers and introduce
their robot to them. This allowed the team to prepare and ultimately become comfortable when
presenting. When Oscar and the team presented for the competition, they felt overly confident.
After the speech, Lorenzo suggested that tampons would be a solution in fixing the leak. Fredi
thought it was a great idea and told Lorenzo to buy it. Oscar and Lorenzo decided to rewire the
wires till morning. This established a closer bond between them. On D-Day, Carl Hayden High
School was up for competition. Cape Fear Community College, Monterey Peninsula College,
and MIT had all done an incredibly awesome job in completing some objectives. Carl Hayden
gained enough points to be placed in third place along with MIT being first and Cape Fear
Community College being second. When the awards ceremony came, Car Hayden High School
earned three awards being one where they took first place in the competition. This sparked a
significant moment for the robotics team at Carl Hayden.
2. When I read part 3 of the book, I felt that the robotics team ultimately matured into one.
Before reading part 3, each of the members lived different lives; however, their love for robotics
linked them to each other. Dedicating their time and effort on the robot allowed them to respect
each others commitment and significantly sparked a friendship between these 4 fellows. Lorenzo
especially had the most impact as he was the neglected student. He was simply integrated
throughout the chapters and for one being within part 3 where he exerted the idea of using
tampons to fix Stinky. This shows that he was a smart individual who was never given a chance
to express his true self. Not only that but within part 3 of the book, Lorenzo dedicated himself
toward helping Oscar fix the robot. While everyone else was sleeping, Lorenzo seem to have felt
as though he was part of a family and wanted to give back for accepting him as one of their own.
3. How has the success of the Carl Hayden robotics team impact the view of the American
immigration controversy?
After Carl Hayden's success in beating MIT and other teams, what do you think will happen to
the overall community?
What made Lorenzo decide to help out Oscar on the robot all night? Why do you think he
contributed?
4. I was distracted by my phone but then I remembered that I had more homework to finish since
I slacked off during the other weekends.
The time went quickly because I was distracted with other tasks.
While I was reading, I found that my favorite character within the book was Lorenzo

5. intermittent- occurring at irregular intervals. I chose this word to help develop my academic
vocabulary
phenomenon- a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen. I chose this word to help
develop my academic vocabulary.
emblazoned- conspicuously inscribe or display something. I chose this word to help develop my
academic vocabulary