After deciding that I wanted to be an engineer when I grow up, I wanted to look for ways that I could learn and discover about engineering. My dad knows how to program and he explained to me how robotics is a mixture of different types of engineering and programming all together. Robotics seemed really exciting, so I decided to explore robotics a bit more.

I became curious about kid-friendly robots that would teach me how to program. While researching, I found a really fun show called "The Dash and Dot Show". Over my summer break, I worked really hard to save up my money to buy Dot

Dot has been a fun way to learn all about robotics and programming. I can program it to say fun things like "Happy Birthday" and "You're awesome!". Dot can also light up with different colors. I can even program it to surprise my little brother! Although Dot doesn't have wheels like Dash, it can tell if it is moving and it can listen to you too.

I used an app called Wonder to learn about all the things I could do with Dot. It was a lot of fun getting creative and programming with Dot. 

After learning how to program with Dot, I asked my mom if there were classes I could learn more about robotics. We found a Robotics club called Davis Youth Robotics (DYR). I got to learn how to build a VEX robot and drive it in the competitions. It was really fun competing with my new friends I met on my team. We had to pick up as many rings with our robot in one minute, which led to our team name - "Master of the Rings".

Dot and Dash are a great way to get started with robotics and programming. I'm really looking forward to getting Dash next.