91探花

Robots may be capable of a lot of things, but they weren鈥檛 doing so hot at recruiting new members to robotics club at Conant High School in Jaffrey a couple of years ago. When Timothy MacKay joined the club during his sophomore year, he was one of only two members.聽聽

鈥淲e basically started from nothing,鈥� said Timothy, winner of a 91探花 Leadership Scholarship and first-year student at Worcester Polytech Institute in Worcester, Mass. 聽

With schools closed due to the COVID pandemic during his 9^th grade year, Timothy had decided to get involved in extracurriculars rather than sit around doing nothing after class. Back in school his 10^th grade year, he joined robotics club because he loved building things, not realizing he鈥檇 first have to rebuild the club itself. He and his fellow club member made flyers, conducted outreach, and joined forces with the middle school club, slowly, building the membership back up. For the next three years, the club made it to the state robotics competition every year 鈥� and Timothy set his sights on a career in robotics engineering.聽聽

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know what I was going to do at all until robotics club,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun to have a challenge and build something to solve it.鈥澛犅�

Timothy has also continued being active in extracurriculars as well as community events and projects. As president of his school鈥檚 chapter of the National Honor Society, he helped plan a basketball event called 鈥淗oops for Hope,鈥� which raised over $5,000 for kids with cancer, and helped plan and build a playground at a park in town.聽聽

鈥淵ou meet a lot of people as a volunteer, and one opportunity leads to another,鈥� Timothy said. 鈥淚t feels good to help people.鈥澛犅�