Warrior Word

by Sara Retta

TSA is one of Edmonds Woodway’s most prominent and populous clubs, the acronym standing for Technology Student Association. In the words of our state president, Leona Ghirmai, TSA is “a professional student organization that gives students the opportunity to learn about various technical skills, as well as general professional and leadership skills.” I took the opportunity to sit in on the club’s third meeting of the year to garner a general understanding of what the club does on a day-to-day, provide insight on TSA’s focuses, as well to get some one-on-one interviews with both our club president, Molly, and our state president, Leona.

The meeting happened to be mandatory, meaning just about all members were present. As I perused the room, I could pick out students I’d seen among some of my AP and Honors classes as well as a good amount of upperclassmen. The meeting began with Leona and Molly leading the presentation, flanked by their fellow club officers. The day’s focus seemed to be on giving out general information, primarily how to sign up for events, choose your event cluster, as well as reviewing the various regulations that apply when competing in TSA competitions. As the conversation turned towards events, Hasset Kassa, a junior member who had impressively placed 1st at state in Career Prep last year, gave some words of advice to people wishing to join that particular event. It was promising to see the ways in which members didn’t just look towards their leaders for guidance but also to their fellow peers. It’s refreshing to see team members of a competition based club choose to uplift one another.

This year many members, recurring and new, have been worried about the restrictions placed on membership to TSA. There’s been concern, particularly about IB students joining the rigorous club with an already excessive work load. The club leaders quelled these concerns methodically, explaining what students, especially IB students, could do if they really wanted to compete. It was clear that the leadership honestly cared about trying their hardest to ensure anyone who wanted to participate had the ability to.

Around this time, members were given time to mill around the room and find others with likeminded interests, in hope of creating pairs to compete in. Productive chatter filled the room as groups slowly started to piece together.

The meeting was starting to come to an end. As people began to clear out, I took the opportunity to pull aside club president Molly Newbold and state president Leona Ghirmai for a quick interview. The pair, as I expected, had only insightful, well-crafted, and thoughtful responses to offer. It was clear that the years working alongside each other had melded them into something less like co-workers and more like close friends.

The following is not a transcript but a para-phrasing of their responses to my questions:

Q: Can you briefly give a simplified, accessible description of what TSA is, just for people reading that may never have competed? I know it sometimes seems very complicated at face value.

Leona: TSA is a professional student organization. It gives students the opportunity to learn about technical skills as well as leadership and general professional skills.  

Q: How long have you guys been in TSA?

Leona: I was elected to be state president in April of last year but I originally joined in middle school. I was state secretary for a while as well as being the secretary for our school team. Molly: I’ve been in TSA for about four years, originally joining in 8th grade.

Q: What made you want to join TSA?

Molly: I really enjoyed my STEM class in middle school. I also had a really great teacher in those classes. I wanted to do more STEM related things beyond the classroom which is what inspired me to join the team in high school.

Leona: During middle school, this one girl that I was friends with was absent for a while. When she came back to school I asked her where she went and she told me she’d been at a TSA tournament. She made me go to the next meeting and my STEM teacher encouraged me about it as well.

Q: What’s your favorite aspect of TSA?

Molly: Definitely meeting new people at the conferences and being able to make new friends with similar interests.

Leona: Well I don’t want to say the same thing, but yeah [laughs]. The community is also great. You gain leadership skills as well as getting to learn about different career prospects.

Q: Why would you recommend this club to others?

Molly: Well, you get to go to Spokane! You make new friends, people with similar but also differing interests. It’s a very unique environment.

Leona: It’s such a formative experience. Competing at state is such a big and vast thing. You also learn how to work more smoothly with a team.

Q: What is your favorite memory of being in TSA?

Leona: Well, when me and Molly went to nationals we got to share a room. We spent the night talking about everything TSA. Our conference experience as well as our experiences leading up to this moment. 

Molly: Yes, same. Another one that comes to me is in 8th grade. My partner and I worked really hard on our presentation but we felt defeated after we performed, thinking we didn’t really do well. It was a combination of a bad advisor at the time and a lack of confidence. Well, awards came around and we happened to win first place. So… 

Q: What is something challenging about TSA and how would you recommend people overcome this challenge?

Molly: I mean getting started is always hard. You’ll feel confused, inevitably, especially if you don’t know many others in the club. But you just have to trust that you’ll gain confidence and get better with time.

Leona: I mean it can feel very overwhelming at first. There’s just so many options and pathways to choose from. I recommend finding something you’re interested in and sticking with it. Don’t waver. Everything comes after that.