NSBE Jr. Takes Over Greensboro, North Carolina!

Story and photos by R’Nasia Murphy.

NOV. 27, 2017: From November 10th through November 12th, 2017, Collegiate and Tech Prep NSBE Jr. members went to the Greensboro, North Carolina convention. It was an amazing experience. We stayed at a beautiful hotel for three days with great food! Who wouldn’t be happy because of that?

NSBE Jr. had three competitions: Ten80, Try-Math-A-Lon, and Vex Robotics. Even though we went, Tech Prep only observed. We wanted to watch and see how the competitions operated before trying to compete. And I’m glad we did because we’ll be way more prepared for the next convention and its competitions. I personally will be in the Try-Math-A-Lon next time, so it was beneficial seeing what categories they would quiz us in: statistics, geometry, problem-solving, calculus, trigonometry, and algebra.

On Saturday, after breakfast, of course, we attended “Dress to Success”. Within our respective genders, we were taught what was acceptable during job interviews. Then we went to a college panel where we learned about the experiences of five college students. We learned about how NSBE can be the outlet to meet people who’re like you. We were able to see many different people who love engineering and how they want to increase the number of black engineers in the world. Then we got to the best part of the day... the spectacular dinner. We were served a three-course dinner, wore fancy clothes and most of us had tea, which added to the fanciness! It was an amazing experience! We loved talking in our “fancy” accents and using fancy words.

On Sunday, we went A&T North Carolina State University and toured the campus. This was my second campus tour, and I learned that A&T is a great school! They had amazing programs for those who are into science and engineering. They have a farm and an amazing basketball team. It’s also an HBCU, though you can expect some whites there for the amazing programs! Though the dorms aren't in the best condition, you could always pick a co-ed dorm since they’re in a newer building than older dorms. I hope everyone who went on this trip had a great time, I know I did!

R’Nasia Murphy is a 9th grade scholar at Friendship Tech Prep Academy.