I fidgeted with my pen nervously as the countdown on my Casio Watch slowly creeped towards the 0:00 mark. No, this was not the final of the IDC Robocon but a different final altogether. This was the final Mathematics exam, 1 final, 2 hours, 3 Freshmore students and 8 Hours of crazy revision the night before. After spending 2 weeks on our robot, this was the final test between us and the IDC Robocon Competition. Thankfully, we could bring a one-page cheat sheet for the exam. This cheat sheet stretched my writing prowess. Never have I written so many things on a single page (I even entertained the idea of bringing a microscope to see what I wrote.)
Alas, after 2 hours, the final paper was submitted and we rushed off to the Hangzhou museum to participate in the IDC Robotics Final. We were fortunate to arrive before the start of the final where we had the opportunity to be compete alongside our teammates. The final competition was a meaningful way to end off Robocon officially as we got to see the fruits of our labour. It was also interesting to see the many creative ways that other groups employed to accomplish the tasks set by the Robocon Planning Committee.
To conclude the day, we had a final dinner together where students from each participating country performed for the rest of the participants. It was fun to watch creative performances by students from different countries, with their unique renditions of song and dance. At the end of all the joy and laughter, we knew that a final goodbye was inevitable. This was the saddest part of Robocon, bidding farewell to our friends and teammates whom we worked with for long hours over the past 2 weeks. Robocon was indeed an experience that I will never forget and I hope that I will have another chance to go again in the future.
