Voices final project link: https://ttd.wjwoker.repl.co

The most influential idea I took away from my research was the idea that trans people face decisions that often have only two answers, both of which can seem both wrong and right. A trans person’s decision to come out to everyone they meet or keep their past a secret has both detrimental and positive effects on a person’s mental state. The way society exists today also means that these decisions cannot be avoided. This is something that every trans person must face, regardless of social status.

One more interesting concept that I took away from my research was the importance of supportive people in a trans person’s life. These decisions may be tough, and life may be challenging, but any adversity is made manageable if there is even a single person to back them up completely. I was surprised to find so many stories where despite a world of discrimination and harassment, one, two, or maybe three people who supported someone were enough to keep them going.

I hope that after reading my project, people will realize that trans people live under constant, near-unmanageable pressure. However, what I also hope people see is that the way to make that pressure manageable is to be the person that supports them. If someone who read my project ever meets a trans person in the future, or knows one now, I hope that they will see that they can be the difference in their life that makes it worth living.

What I realized during my time at North was how important it is for me to make a difference in someone else’s life. I’ve spent so much time dedicating myself to robotics that I’ve learned a lot about myself, and what really makes me happy. What I’ve found is that nothing makes me more proud than thinking about the people I’ve inspired during my time on the software team and as the lead. So many current high schoolers who learned about robotics under my mentorship will major in computer science and develop incredible software that will change the world. Every person I’ve taught programming to at Kennedy, every person I’ve stopped to help in a programming class for even just a minute, every person I’ve helped with math and science in peer tutoring, they will all do something in the world, and I will have influenced their journey. That idea is really meaningful for me.

My advice for future NNHS seniors is to not get wrapped up in school. Focus on doing what you love and don’t make schoolwork always your priority. I certainly don’t mean that you shouldn’t turn in anything at all, which a lot of seniors this year seem to have done, but your time is limited- if you put half an hour less each day into your homework and projects, and instead dedicate that to your activities, your sports, or your friends, you’ll create lasting memories that are far more meaningful than a 10% better grade on some random high school assignment.

Also, make an airband! Even if you’re terrible, it’s quite fun.

In my time leading the software subteam of the robotics team, I have accomplished many things, including teaching robot Java to new members, writing auto-aiming software for a dodgeball-launching turret, and designing a subteam t-shirt, which I sold 24 of. However, none of these is as fascinating to analyze as the instantiation of the Wyatt points Economy.

After joking about it with the other people on the team, I decided to actually make a points system as part of our subteam. I give out Wyatt points to each person for doing different things like writing code or helping to lift the 120-pound robot, and I keep track of everyone’s points on a Google Sheet. Points can be exchanged for a wide variety of rewards, each with their own cost, such as a small sticker (75 points), life advice (100 points), and a $3 discount on the subteam t-shirt (999 points).

However, this was more than just a fun game within our team. After implementing the system, I realized that it was going to be quite an interesting psychological experiment. After all, even though everyone was there for fun, they ended up getting paid in Wyatt points just like you’d be paid in dollars in a standard job, earning maybe 40 or 50 points each day. So, after around four months of this experiment with my own currency, I think it is worth publishing my findings on the human psychology behind an economy.

The first positive thing I noticed after inventing Wyatt points is that everyone suddenly wanted to do everything that they had previously avoided. Tasks that had previously been met with a groan now had too many people who wanted to do them, as working for points made things fun and exciting. Pre-Wyatt points, no one wanted to carry the heavy robot back to its original position after running an autonomous routine, but the new economy helped to alleviate this issue.

This, however, leads me to the first problem an economy causes, which is that things get cutthroat very quickly. While previously people had tried to stay away from tasks they didn’t like, now small things could cause verbal fights over who got to do it and earn points. Once a reward system is put in place, it seems to hit the primitive survival instincts in our brains, and the Wyatt point seemed to have that effect. This certainly didn’t tear apart our team, as is evident by the fact that we have such a strong friendship between everyone in the team today, but, it goes to show that making a currency-based reward system can’t just make things move toward working in peaceful harmony.

As such, I needed to do a little to regulate the system. I had to make rules that stated that I could take away points if you were causing any problems. I didn’t really end up having problems with it, thanks to the fact that my team is made up of a lot of great people, but nonetheless, it seems that you can’t make an economy without needing someone in power to keep things in order, which can sometimes lead to inefficiencies or may create distance between the people in the economy and the people with the power.

Though, the effects I wrote above didn’t last forever. After a while, the motivation that Wyatt points created sort of leveled out, and some of the more unenjoyable tasks weren’t always worth it just for the Wyatt points. However, they had created some habits, and there was always somebody who was willing to do things like lifting the robot and cleaning up.

If you are planning on implementing your own economy in the future, I noticed a few things about how the number and cost of rewards impacts the effectiveness of your currency. I found that as I added more and more rewards to purchase, people were met with choice overload and ended up never spending their points at all. If you have fewer rewards, people are more likely to spend their currency and be motivated to earn it. Also, don’t make any of your rewards cost too much. If there is a reward that costs more than someone has, they will generally try to save for it. Essentially, if I were to create a reward that cost a trillion points, no one would ever spend anything in hopes that they could eventually buy it, but, their motivation to earn currency would wear off before they get there. You’ll want to keep a low number of rewards and a reasonable cost to each for the most effective economy.

So, let me answer the question, should you make your own economy? It depends on your goals. Motivating people with currency is great if you want to encourage people to do unenjoyable tasks and create habits, but it can become extremely competitive and requires a system of power. Let’s look at a few examples and see if an economy is well-suited for the situation.

• Your football team? A new currency may be a great idea to encourage practice, and a little bit of competition isn’t a huge problem for a sports team.
• Your family? Probably not ideal. You don’t really need anything to tear siblings apart even more.
• A band? Not a bad idea. Once again, it can be great for encouraging practice, as long as the competition between sections doesn’t cause a problem. And a band is organized such that it would work out to put the conductor at the head of the system of power.
• A book club? I don’t think an economy makes any sense for this.
• The United States?

Now, I’m not here to say that the entire country is misorganized just because my extremely flawed model of the effects of an economy says it’s not perfect. But, I wonder what our country’s goals really are, and if an economy is really built to work toward those goals. That’s up to you to decide. It really makes me wonder if there is another system that has never been tried before that might be better for what we want to do. Not capitalism, not socialism, something completely unique, that is far more optimal. We could probably never implement it, as it would necessitate tearing apart our entire country and rebuilding from scratch, but it makes you think. Maybe my friends should test some ideas out next year on the new software subteam.