By: Amelia Naughten, News Editor
On March 2nd, Sharon Zhang (11) was awarded Dean’s List Finalist at the FIRST Robotics Pinnacles Regional competition, recognizing their exceptional leadership skills and impact on the Mills robotics team, the Boba Bots 253. This marks a historic moment for the team, as Zhang is the first student in its 26 years of operations to take home the title.
The Dean’s List award is the highest award a student can receive within FIRST Robotics, a global organization that hosts high school robotics competitions. This is also the only award an individual student can receive, honoring those who demonstrate a commitment to FIRST’s values, technical expertise, a passion for STEAM, and have made a measurable impact on their community. Each team can only enter two sophomore or junior members per year, selected through self and peer nominations. Finalists are chosen based on personalized essays submitted by adult mentors and an in-person interview conducted and evaluated by FIRST judges.
During the closing ceremony of the last day, the Dean’s List award is announced for two students, giving each finalist the opportunity to attend the FIRST Robotics Championship and compete to be a Dean’s List Winner.
To put the significance of this award into perspective, Anjali Abraham, physics teacher and lead robotics mentor at Mills, explained, “It’s effectively the National Merit Scholarship for FIRST Robotics, and engineering programs from top universities specifically look for that.”
Heading into the competition, Zhang remained cautiously optimistic. “I wanted to hope for it, but also I knew that there were a lot of very qualified applicants there and so, I mean, it would be unlikely,” Zhang (11) remembered.
Despite the team facing technical setbacks and consecutive losses at the competition, Zhang remained resilient and focused on supporting team morale. When the award was announced, they were caught completely off guard.
“I heard the first half of my name, and then I heard [the team] screaming. And then I think I blacked out because I don’t remember a lot from the next five minutes.” Zhang admitted, “I think somebody had to push me to get me to actually start going [down to the field]…And then I remember seeing myself on the screen as I was walking up there.”
Zhang especially treasured a moment after receiving Dean’s List. “There was a part where I was coming back and then they announced the second winner, which was actually my friend on another team…So I remember just running out to her and hugging her and that got clipped.” Zhang’s celebration with their fellow Dean’s List Finalist made it onto several robotics YouTube channels and streams—a full-circle moment.
Back at Mills, Zhang is a lead in the Construction Department, a subteam dedicated to designing, prototyping, and assembling the robot in collaboration with Electronics and Programming. Now in their third year on the team and second as a lead, Zhang has made a lasting impact. Their fresh approach to organizing the team has helped things run more efficiently while also creating a more welcoming and inclusive environment.
Tech mentor Kerry Scharfglass, who has been with the team for seven years, commented, “Right now, Sharon has a bunch of people at a bunch of different levels of seniority doing things in the lab sort of autonomously. Everybody, no matter what level they’re at, can contribute something to Construction.” He added, “I feel like there are more people more consistently engaged now than there have been in a while.”
Zhang not only developed a clear, accessible schedule for their department but also created and taught CAD curriculum for rookie members. They also worked to ensure tasks were distributed more evenly between returning and rookie members, helping everyone contribute and grow.
Their impact was especially evident during this year’s build season. Abraham reflected on how Zhang’s leadership allowed the team to finish their robot early, saying, “We have a first week competition, so most people in this team are not used to building a robot from scratch in six weeks, and we finished it early…Just completing a more complicated robot in less time than we usually take [was possible] because of Sharon’s ability to lead a diverse group of members and make sure that they all contribute to the robot.”
Most importantly, though, Zhang has played a crucial role in fostering an inclusive and supportive environment, particularly for non-male students.
Arielle Feng (9) joined the Construction Department last fall, and recounts, “When I first joined, I actually had like, really no friends and since the first activity was to pair with someone, I didn’t have any idea who to go to. And Sharon just dragged me along and started helping me.” Feng appreciates the resources and time Zhang puts into making sure each individual member feels confident in their engineering abilities.
Another new Construction member, Rachel Cabrera (9), noted, “They can explain things well, too. I feel like when Sharon explains it to me, I just get it. It clicks in my head…And they do it in a way so that you don’t feel intimidated by it.”
And for Zhang, this is what they value most: getting to work as a team and building up others.
“[Robotics] is the first place that I’ve found where it really feels like I can be myself,” they shared. “There’s just something about the teamwork, about having to work with other people, because, you know, it’s impossible to build a whole robot by yourself.” Zhang made it clear that at the end of the day, “what drew me in and what keeps me in is the people, the community.” As they look ahead, they hope the welcoming and supportive environment that first brought them in continues to thrive, allowing future members to build the same connections and experience the same impactful opportunities they did.
Zhang now has the opportunity to attend the FIRST Robotics Championships in Houston, Texas in April, and has expressed interest in going. No matter where their journey takes them next, Mills and the Boba Bots 253 will be cheering them on every step of the way.
