Senior finds uniqueness in robotics and academic success
The Paso Robles Robotics Club huddled around their creations, attentive and eager to see the Vex steel mechanisms they had worked on for the past three months come to life. After school hours and nights at home were drained into programming, developing, wiring, and testing David, the robot that would be sent to the Skills USA robotics competition and rise up against Goliath-like state competitors.
David, named after the ancient king of Israel detailed in the Bible, would sling styrofoam balls with ease across the competition floor, even in the face of stiff competition. Through the Robotics Club, state competitions and exceptional class achievements such as realizing his dream of becoming valedictorian, he has risen up above the 15 million other high school students in the nation.
Through Bedrosian’s high school career, one friend has stood close beside him, whether he was constructing robots, participating in study groups, or relaxing at home. Bedrosian’s friend and robotics partner, senior Andrew McGuffin, has made the journey from elementary school through high school with him, and notices significant potential in Bedrosian.
“He stays on top of his work and is someone I can rely on. Taylor was able to balance being my partner in robotics while also competing in varsity track. He’s my best friend and I’ve known him for most of my life,” McGuffin said.
Over the course of the years, the duo have become fearless in their ability to produce working robots, and their senior project marked the height of their prowess.
“Completing our final robot design for the SkillsUSA State Competition this year was definitely our highlight over the last four years of teaming together,” McGuffin said.
Bedrosian had other goals in mind for his high school years, one of them being a self motivated journey to become valedictorian.
“The biggest driving force was originally trying to get into a good college because I’ve heard that getting valedictorian is a good symbol for getting into college, but after that it became a personal motivator of something to shoot for because it was like, ‘I have the chance to go for it’… my motivation has been to go for it, because why not?” Bedrosian said.
The path to valedictorian was no bed of roses, and Bedrosian has needed support from many around him. Through counselors, teachers assistance and support from friends and family surrounding him, Bedrosian kept on top of his mountain of deadlines and work.
“It’s been rough trying to manage the time and making sure everything is done when it’s supposed to be done in school and do everything else outside of school,” Bedrosian said. “Trying to juggle everything, as I’m sure every senior is quite aware of, is a little more difficult than it otherwise might be in other (years) .”
Bedrosian has undergone massive changes, according to mother and leadership teacher Jennifer Bedrosian.
“He’s grown as a leader. He swore he would never want to do leadership when he came into high school because that wasn’t his thing, but now he’s taking up leader roles, putting on big events, DJ’ing out in the quad” she said.
His mother also described how he has become more diverse in his passions, especially concerning classes originally outside his comfort zone.
“He didn’t really want to do GEO (Geographic and Environment Options) and he was kind of talked into it by Coach Ewing,” Bedrosian said. “He can’t even imagine what it would be like to not go on the trip, now he likes going hiking, and he bought a bunch of his stuff because he’s inspired to do all these things.”
All through his life, she remarked, Taylor has had a constant forward pressure to succeed.
“His driving force, his little steam engine, had never stopped, and I guess in that sense he never changed because he’s always wanted to be number one.”