This year, our student Duru Ö., as Co-Captain of our Robotics Team, was honored with one of the most prestigious individual awards of the competition — the Dean’s List Finalist Award — thanks to her exceptional dedication and outstanding leadership skills. With this achievement, she earned the right to participate in the International Finals held in Houston.
Here is Duru’s inspiring story — a dream that reached all the way to Houston, in her own words.
My first role on the team began with me becoming a member of the software team. In the second year, my friend Mehmet and I took on the role of software team co-captain and later served as team co-captains. Participating in the world championship in my first regional tournament was an incredible experience that I could never have imagined would come true.
Being selected as the 2025 Istanbul Regional Dean’s List Finalist and invited to the world championship was an unforgettable turning point for me. Being nominated for this prestigious award and attending the award ceremony was a great honor both in terms of my personal development and representing my school. Being able to receive this award, being nominated, and being a finalist was something I had dreamed of from the very beginning.
In order to be able to win this award, the most successful 600 teams from all over the world representing their own countries earn the right to participate in the FRC World Championship. You can think of it as eight regional competitions in Türkiye being held at the same time. The best teams in the world compete for the world finals in different divisions at the same time. The right to participate in the championship can be gained with the Impact Award, Engineering Inspiration Award or regional tournament championship.
Another award that provides the right to participate in the world championship is the Dean’s List Award, one of the most respected individual awards given in the FRC program. This award is given to 11th and 12th grade students who demonstrate superior performance in terms of leadership, technical ability and contribution to society in robotics teams. The name of the award comes from the “Dean’s List” tradition, which includes students who have demonstrated academic success in universities. Candidates are evaluated on their leadership roles within the team, technical skills and efforts to spread FIRST values (Gracious Professionalism).
During the championship, I had the opportunity to meet with representatives of programs and companies that we use in tournaments in Türkiye, such as WPILib and Rev Robotics. I learned about technical changes that will be made to the competition in the coming years. During the tournament, I visited almost all the teams, examined their robots and established connections that we will continue to communicate with in the future.
At the Dean’s List Awards Ceremony, I met with other finalists from all over the world. The conversations I had with these young people, each representing their own country and team, were extremely inspiring. During the ceremony, I had the chance to introduce myself and my team by meeting with the deans of Yale, MIT and WPI universities, and FRC founder Dean Kamen.
This competition, which I have been a part of throughout my high school years, was undoubtedly much more than just a robotics tournament for me. Participating in the world championship showed me once again how comprehensive the FRC culture which I am a part of is. I felt happy to be a part of it again and that I was at the right place. It was a very useful experience in expanding my vision for my future goals. As I participated in the tournaments, I felt that my decision to continue in the field of engineering was more certain in the career plans that were building up in my mind.
After the tournament held in Houston, Texas, I had the opportunity to visit Yale, MIT and Harvard universities. I met with students and gained detailed information and connections about the departments I wanted, university life and admission processes. It was great to experience the university environment and student life, even if only a little.
This experience was much more than just contributing to my personal development, it was also a step that would allow me to achieve greater success as Robin in the future by sharing the experiences I gained with my teammates.
Galeri
