(Photo provided) Adam Tucker, 18, of Williamstown, is a senior at Parkersburg Catholic High School after recently transferring from Williamstown High School. He has interests in robotics, band, gaming, photography, woodworking and more.

WILLIAMSTOWN — Whether it is robotics or band, Parkersburg Catholic High School senior Adam Tucker is always looking at doing things he enjoys but also challenging himself at the same time.

Tucker, 18, had attended school in Williamstown from second grade to his senior year until about a month ago when he transferred to Catholic for personal reasons where he is currently a senior.

Tucker is the lead electrician with the Dark Side Robotics Team, a team made up of a group of Wood County high school students. He takes care of all the wiring components on the robots they build for whatever competition they are doing.

He was introduced to robotics by his cousins, who were both on the team and had told him about it.

“I wanted to go into robotics to learn more skills and have a new experience,” Tucker said.

(Photo provided) Adam Tucker, 18, of Williamstown, has been involved in band since he was in fifth grade. He has played trumpet for the majority of that time and was a part of the Williamstown High School Marching Band. He recently transferred to Parkersburg Catholic High School where he will finish out his senior year. He is planning to try out for the Ohio University Marching Band this spring as he will be attending Ohio University in the fall.

The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) organization organizes the events the team participates in and comes up with new games every year for a team to be able to build a robot that can complete a certain task in the game the quickest.

There are two different competitions the team goes to a year, the Greater Pittsburgh Regional Competition and the Miami Valley Regional Competition.

“We are not judged but rather we are competing in a game or a race with two other teams to see who can complete the challenges first most effectively as a team and earn the most points towards the game,” Tucker said. “With robotics, what appeals to me the most is probably the amazing atmosphere and the huge amount of social interaction.

“Everyone at these robotics events are extremely social and it gives you a chance to break out of your comfort zone and meet and make new friends in something you enjoy.”

He helped with the development of RoboCamp that was held this past summer at Discovery World on Market in downtown Parkersburg. The camp was open to local youth and provided a hands-on environment featuring VEX robotics.

(Photo provided) Adam Tucker, 18, of Williamstown, is a senior at Parkersburg Catholic High School. He is planning to study engineering at Ohio University in the fall.

Tucker has been involved in band since fifth grade where he got interested in playing trumpet and has enjoyed doing it ever since.

“I have tried a tuba and a trombone but didn’t like them at all,” he said.

He has always loved and gotten excited about the huge bands coming through in parades, always liked the music they played and thought what they did was fun and exciting.

“I thought they looked cool,” Tucker said. “I remembered just how exciting it was to see them come marching down the road in parades.

“What I enjoyed the most about marching band was getting to make close friends and have fun with them at football games and competitions and pushing myself to work harder on my instrument and learn new things to teach the other members in my section. Also, getting that amazing feeling of playing songs I’ve listened to on my instrument and taking the songs up higher in range to make them sound cool.”

(Photo provided) Adam Tucker, 18, of Williamstown, is a senior at Parkersburg Catholic High School. He is the lead electrician with the Dark Side Robotics Team, a team made up of Wood County high school students.

Tucker was a member of the Williamstown Brass, a quintet that received a superior rating at Solo and Ensemble. He marched with the Pride of Williamstown and was featured performing interpretive dance during the show. He also participated in the Jazz ensemble at Williamstown and participated in the Virginia Tech Honor Band.

After graduation, he is planning to attend Ohio University in Athens and study engineering but he is still considering if he will be doing electrical or mechanical engineering.

He has not decided on an exact career path yet, but said he is just going to aim for something that he can enjoy, not be stressed about and be comfortable doing. He wants engineering to be at the center of it and wants to be able to make new things.

Tucker is also interested in continuing with music at OU by trying out for the Marching 110 this spring.

Tucker is the son of Alex and Valerie Tucker and brother to Jackson and Bentley Tucker.

(Photo provided) Adam Tucker, 18, of Williamstown, center, along with others participating in the recent Robocamp at the Discovery Center in Parkersburg. Tucker has an interest in robotics and engineering and will be attending Ohio University in the fall.

His other hobbies include photography because his father is into it and is still doing it.

“It had always been so interesting to me because you could capture that moment in time just right there with a click of a button and sometimes you could make the photo look almost like it did with your own eyes,” he said. “You can feel proud about how the photo looks because you took the photo and did that work yourself.”

At Catholic, he has joined the yearbook team and has been getting pictures of extracurricular activities at school. He has also volunteered to run the audio visual equipment for the drama club.

He also likes gaming in his free time and admits he probably does too much of it.

“I’ve always liked doing it because it was something I could do with my brothers and my father,” he said.

He is also doing woodworking projects with his great-grandfather, Art Tucker. The two of them have made his family’s dining room table, worked on a chicken coop project and currently they are making custom cabinets for Adam’s room.

Tucker has also taken up skateboarding over the last year with an old friend who has been teaching him.

“I can’t do much but I do enjoy it because you can do whatever you want with it and it’s just a blast and a lot of fun to go and do,” he said.

Being involved in robotics, band and everything else has taught him the value of dedication, seeing things through and putting the time in on something to get the best outcome.

“It has taught me that working hard always ends with good results,” he said.