By: Arshia Rampuria …

Recently, IA’s Technology Student Association has started its competition preparation for their fall leadership in November and state conference in March, with one mandatory meeting per week of 4:30 – 6 PM for members to adhere to. Here’s some information about what their members are preparing for and what you can expect to find from TSA this year.  

Fall Leadership 

The fall leadership competition is in mid-November, and is an off-campus event located in Jekyll Island that revolves around members choosing their events to participate and compete in. There will be seminars for learning opportunities as well, where students will be able to learn with the experience. The 20 people who will attend the fall leadership competition have been selected through an application process, and the finalization of these people is occurring soon. 

State Conference 

The state leadership competition is a statewide competition that involves high schoolers and middle schoolers in Mid-March. Like the fall leadership, the spring conference is an off-campus trip, this time with four-days to Athens, Georgia, where the TSA team will have the opportunity to compete in 40 different events based on the ones their members sign up for. There is no limit to the number of people who can attend this conference, with the requirement that each member must be registered in and well prepared for four events, either in teams or individually. 

These events range from IT, Engineering, to even the arts, research, and leadership. There are multiple opportunities available for each student to explore, develop, and refine. 

Dr. Isabel, this year’s sponsor for TSA, shares her own experiences as a previous high school participant and finalist at the state conference. One of her biggest messages to the TSA members starts from the root of selecting their events: following through with the rubric. The first step to placing, she says, starts from not getting disqualified. 

She’s also taken away a message from starting early: “You’re going to make mistakes—those mistakes help you grow when you start earlier instead of causing you anxiety when you are doing it at the last minute.”