Last Tuesday, the Junior High took a field to the University of Notre Dame for science class. First, we saw a robot sumo wrestling tournament that was staged as a conclusion to a senior design project in engineering class. -Max Neibur

The Sumo Wrestling Robotics, even though they weren’t as big as I thought they would be, were really cool. The mat was bigger than I imagined. When the robots started the match, many of them did not move. It was a little anti-climactic and disappointing. I really liked being able to ask the seniors questions about their robots after the competition was over. The last two robots were awesome. Team 10’s robot kept pushing its opponents out of the ring. It was fun to watch. After the robots, we went to the nuclear science building. We were able to see a particle accelerator, which was very interesting. I was a bit nervous due to the radiation signs everywhere. Finally, we went to a DNA lab. Extracting DNA and doing all kinds of tests was really great. The college students helping us were very nice and helpful. My favorite part of the day was asking female engineers and scientists about their work since I am interested in a career in the STEM field. This exposure was amazing. -Talia Thornton