TSA Fall Leadership Conference in Jekyll Island, GA

Last weekend, I and fourteen other members of my school’s Technology Student Association (TSA) Chapter took a trip down to Jekyll Island, GA for the annual TSA Fall Leadership Conference. From November 10th to the 13th, our chapter had the privilege of spending the weekend on one of the few beaches in Georgia in November, sparing us from Atlanta’s typical, dispiriting winter weather. As Co-President of a new TSA Chapter—this is only the second year of my high school’s operation—I, along with the rest of the chapter, was intrigued as to what things happened at the conference. After researching the weekend online, I discovered the three primary segments of the weekend—VEX, a cardboard boat race, and an Electric Vehicle Rally.

My high school does not have a VEX team, so we did not participate in the VEX State Qualifier. However, I did attend the competition to watch teams compete and learn about the organization. Walking around the convention center before the competition, I was fascinated to see so many teams tweaking their robots, testing them on equipment, and repeatedly colliding with my ankles. The EV Rally was arguably even more interesting to me. I spent some time with a team from another school as they prepared, and they explained to me the kit they used to build the car, how they bought the equipment, and how enjoyable it was to speed around 15 miles per hour around parking lots in an ostentatious, tinted motorcycle helmet.

Although my chapter did not participate in the VEX Tournament nor the EV Rally, we did compete in the Armada Boat Race—a signature event of the weekend. I and two other friends spent a few days drafting concepts of ways we could develop a functional boat from cardboard and duct tape—as the competition required. We were rightfully proud of our design and final product. However, in retrospect, it perhaps would have been advisable for us to prioritize our swimming and sailing skills, as opposed to our engineering skills.

While our boat may have sank in seconds due to a teammate of ours foolishly pencil-diving into the boat, the race was easily the highlight of my weekend. Throughout my time there, I spent hours bonding with my chapter—I spent hours at night with my peers and teacher sponsors discussing high school life, our future goals, and our tastes in music. The Fall Leadership Conference is a great opportunity for people to meet with students from other schools, learn about organizations like VEX, and get introduced to electric vehicle construction. However, the most rewarding aspect of the weekend was undeniably the time it gave me to spend with my teachers and friends within our TSA chapter.