Cascade senior wants to expand her interests in robotics

EVERETT — Julia Loewen, 17, is a senior at Cascade High School in Everett. The daughter of Elona and Jim Loewen, she also is on the school’s robotics team.

Question: How did you get interested in robotics?

Answer: My freshman year I heard about it from a friend and I came to a meeting and it went from there. I started spending a lot of time in robotics and I found out I really loved it.

Q: What about it do you like?

A: I love everything. Most of my friends are in robotics. I love going to the competitions and working really hard on all the projects we have. It’s really rewarding to see our work pay off.

Q: You’ve won some awards for that, right?

A: I went to the FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) World Championship in St. Louis … It’s a big robot and you have six weeks to work on it. I was nominated for the Dean’s List award. That’s named after Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The award is for leadership, and I’ve been team captain for four years now.

Q: What is your role on the team? Design? Production?

A: I’ve done everything, but I mostly do behind-the-scenes stuff, like I organize fundraisers. I’ve written essays for grants for the team, and I make sure the team is on task.

Q: They say you’re also a good student?

A: I have a not-quite-flawless GPA. It’s 3.95. I actually got an A-minus in Spanish my freshman year, and now I’m in AP Spanish. I’m really good at math and science. Those are my favorites. I took AP Biology last year and that’s been my favorite class.

Q: And you’re in band?

A: I play bassoon for the wind ensemble. I’ve been playing that since the seventh grade. I also play alto sax, but I don’t play that as much, mostly in the pep band.

Q: Any other clubs or activities?

A: I do marching band. I’m in the color guard and I have a bassoon solo this year.

Q: What’s your favorite book?

A: I really like “A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess, and I liked “Ender’s Game” a lot.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of school? If you even have time for hobbies …

A: I really don’t. I study. I have my activities and then I go home and study, and that’s about it. I work a couple of days a week. I work at Old Navy.

Q: Have you thought about college?

A: Yes. Right now, I’m working on my MIT and Caltech applications.

Q: Those are your top choices?

A: Yes. I want to study aerospace engineering and get a job in space exploration.

Q: What aspect of space exploration are you interested in?

A: I like that there are so many challenges in space exploration. Once you solve one problem, you find another problem, because people are made to live on Earth, not another planet, like Mars. I want to try to solve or figure out some of those problems.

Q: What do your folks do?

A: My dad is an engineer, and my mom is a middle-school math teacher.

Q: Do you have a mentor at the high school?

A: (Linda) Anderson and (Neil) Palachuk. They’ve been my robotics mentors since freshman year and they’ve taught me and everyone else on the team everything from building the robot to writing essays to presenting.

Q: What’s your favorite part of the whole process of building the robot?

A: The competition and seeing our robot on the field and seeing our final product, either doing what it’s supposed to do or completely failing at what it’s supposed to do, is really cool. We also get to present to the judges about our team and our whole season.

Q: Do you have any goals for senior year?

A: I want to have a really good robotics season because it’s my last year. I also want to make it to state at the solo ensemble competition for bassoon.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.