Happy Halloween! 🎃
Our first real workday was Saturday, 10/31/2026, from 11 to 2 in Franklin Antonio Hall. People showed up in costumes and gave up a Saturday on Halloween, which honestly made my week.
Before the workday
The week leading up to it was a lot. The hardware lead and I had to submit a literature review and a project proposal to the club the same day. We read (okay, skimmed hard 😂) nine papers between both teams and turned each one into a quick "steal or skip" summary: what did they build, what's worth copying, and what's way too much for a student team with a student budget. Two teammates sent in papers on their own, which was awesome to see this early.
My biggest worry was the slides. I kept thinking, if I don't enjoy this, why would anyone else? I did not want to stand up there and say "yo, read this." So I tried to make it as interactive as possible.
What we did
- What we're building. A quick walkthrough of the goal and our first milestone, so everyone knows what we're working toward.
- Kahoot! A little quiz to get the team introduced and gauge their understanding on the fundies.
- Arduino intro. The teams went way past blinking an LED. One team built Pong controlled by a motion sensor. The other built Snake played with a joystick. Both worked! I was not expecting that on day one.
What I learned as a lead
- People rise to the level you set. I planned for blinking LEDs, and they built video games. Next time I'm starting them higher.
- Interactive beats informative. Students are already bored by lectures throughout the week, give them something fun.
- I'm still a brick at a lot of this technically, and that's okay. I said so out loud to the team, and I think it made people more comfortable asking questions.
Shoutout to everyone who came out. Stay safe, and see you next time!