Lily Shi

“If I help the [robotics] team achieve better things or build a better robot, those sort of things don’t just disappear when I graduate — they’re there for a while. We can continue to use these robots and this documentation for team culture as examples for future teams, and that’ll help them succeed. I see the same thing in teaching and in art: it lasts, and that’s what makes it worth it,” senior Brenna Ren said.

Shouts erupt from the stands as thirty students leap to their feet, watching as their robot maneuvers pipes and climbs metal cages. From her seat in the bleachers, senior Brenna Ren sees her teammates celebrating — and their robot securing a historic first victory at the 2025 Capital City Classic — and thinks, “Oh my gosh, we finally made it.” 

Yet just a year ago, Brenna recalls a very disparate scene.

“We were at the same competition and it was so different — everyone was kind of embarrassed by how bad our robot was,” Brenna said. “We were just sitting in the stands and on our phones. But this year, when we finally won, everyone was cheering and there was that feeling that everyone was so happy for our team. That was like, ‘wow, I helped this team succeed both technically and collaboratively.’”

When Brenna joined robotics in ninth grade, she watched the team falter at competitions and struggle internally with low morale, and many members quit the team soon after she arrived. However, Brenna decided to stay and rebuild the team, learning from past mistakes to improve both the team’s technical level and its culture. 

“We tried to shift the team culture so everyone is passionate about the robot and wants the best for the team, even if we’re not doing the best,” Brenna said. “It’s really fulfilling going to a robotics meeting and being around people that genuinely love robotics. A lot of people stay in certain activities or teams because of the people there, and that’s the vibe I want to keep on the team.”

As Technical Vice President and now Executive President, Brenna has focused on making team members feel valued, seeking out feedback and encouraging team bonding. Now, she manages critical administrative responsibilities that keep the program running, from coordinating usage of practice facilities to overseeing competition participation and organizing outreach events.

Robotics Operations President junior Aanika Kapoor highlights Brenna’s technical skill and notes that she took on the majority of the robot’s coding during her junior year. She emphasizes how members turn to her for guidance in moments of uncertainty. 

“She steps up and takes charge even in situations where it’s not necessarily her job, and she puts everything into making sure things are good for everyone else,” Aanika said. “She was a little reserved at the start and kind of stayed with her friends, but over the past couple of years she’s really grown. Now she talks to pretty much everyone on the team. She provides a lot of stability and brings people together.”

Computer science teacher Anu Datar, who met Brenna in her freshman year and now advises her in Programming Club, where Brenna serves as president, has seen firsthand how Brenna’s leadership has encouraged younger girls to join robotics and other STEM activities. 

“They see how she deals with the toxicity in these kind of environments where the boys sometimes talk over the girls or ignore them,” Datar said. “When the younger girls see someone like Brenna not only deal with it in a very mature way, but also make sure she is heard and calls attention, then they gain the confidence to be in the room and make their point known.”

Close friend senior S Wang admires Brenna’s dedication to obtaining the best possible outcomes for the teams she leads and describes how she has matured as a leader over the years. 

“When we were freshmen and sophomores, she would often talk about the leadership at the clubs she was in and things that maybe irked her,” S said. “She’s taken those lessons and frustrations and used them to become the type of leader she wished she could have had. She really cares about mentoring people that are in lower grades and making sure everyone knows what they’re doing.”

Brenna’s mentorship in robotics and Programming Club is driven by a genuine love for teaching. In one of her first teaching experiences, she taught English to children from China through a Harker Lower School Summer Camp Program, becoming an older-sister figure to them. That was when she realized how much she enjoyed helping others learn, even students she might never see again. 

“I just helped them learn English for that summer, but it still felt really meaningful to me that I was able to help them feel more welcome and make an impact on their lives,” Brenna said. “Even if it’s just for a couple weeks, if you help someone learn something, it sticks with them forever. It’s a way to broaden my impact beyond doing things for myself.”

Since then, Brenna has found joy in every teaching opportunity she seeks, like mentoring elementary school kids in robotics outreach programs TA-ing in computer science classes, where she worked on-on-one with students and helped design class activities. Datar reflected on how Brenna’s determination to help others made her a natural teacher.

“I realized Brenna really enjoys explaining things to people,” Datar said. “She can think of 5 different ways of explaining the same concept. As much as I feel I’ve taught her over the past 4 years, I’ve also learned equally from her.”

In the robotics team she reshaped, the dozens of students she has taught, and the robots and code and art pieces she has created, Brenna leaves behind work that will outlast her time at Harker.  

“If I help the [robotics] team achieve better things or build a better robot, those sort of things don’t just disappear when I graduate — they’re there for a while,” Brenna said. “We can continue to use these robots and this documentation for team culture as examples for future teams, and that’ll help them succeed. I see the same thing in teaching and in art: it lasts, and that’s what makes it worth it.”