Teen with Vincentian parents to lead team in US robotics competition

A Vincentian teenager is set to lead her team in a major robotics competition in the USA.

Although not Vincentian by birth, both of Mya Sergeant’s parents are from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).

The 15 year old is now preparing her team to take part in the second round of a major robotics competition scheduled to take place on March 31.

Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on Saturday March 18, Mya promised to do her best in leading her team in the competition.

Her mother Gail Bentick told SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday that Mya is an honour student at the Wilby High school where she is an 11th grader.

“She loves forensic and wants to become something in forensic”.

Bentick said this is the second year the school is participating in the robotics competition.

“Her physics teacher encouraged her to join the robotics team.

“She is actually the only girl on the team and she is captain of the team,” the mother explained.

Bentick, who now lives in the USA, is originally from Mc Kies Hill.

Mya’s team was able to make it through to the first round of competition and they are now gearing up to go to Hartford for another round.

In the first round of competition, Mya’s robotics team placed 6th out of 39 competitors.

Bentick said it does not matter what her school placed in the first round because just for entering, the schools are rewarded financially as many of these programmes are sponsored by NASA.
The proud mother said Mya is also very good at digital arts, and that she recently “designed the logo for the team button.”

Bentick said she and Mya’s stepdad try their best “to give her everything she needs to do the best that she can.”

To sum it up, Bentick described Maya as “ a gifted child.”

Bentick, who is a dental hygienist/professor said she is a mentor for her daughter and makes sure that she is following in the right footsteps.

On Saturday, Mya also spoke about her experience with robotics.

“I didn’t know I could do robotics, but when I finally decided to try it, I had a lot of fun and it was a great experience.

“If you want to achieve something, you just go for it,” she noted.

“My mom made me read a lot when I was smaller and to be honest, I did not enjoy it a whole lot, but when I got older I started to appreciate it more. I realize that reading from a young age really helps you in the future,” the teenager said.

Bentick recalled introducing Mya to reading from age four and by the age of eight years she was able to read and do an analysis of Malcom X.

“I am proud of her because I see my hard work paying off,” the mom added.

The teams in the robotics competition are from schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The New England First Waterbury Robotics competition puts the students’ technology and robotics skills to the test.

The finals will be held from April 6-8.

During the competition, teams build robots which are programmed and controlled by students who work with mentors to design their robots.