If you were in the Technology Student Association in high school or middle school, you learned about competition, teamwork, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) through competitions and conferences across the school, regional, state, and national levels. Besides being a great addition on your resume, TSA was a large part of your high school experience… and life.

You know you were in TSA when...

1. All year was about making it to Nationals.

Photo by Hannah Brown

State and Regionals were merely steps in your journey to Nashville, Dallas, Washington D.C., or Orlando. Every minute spent working on your national qualifying events (NQEs) was spent with the image of receiving a trophy at the general assembly, so you may have hoarded a few events to increase your chances of making it.

2. The state and national officers were your heroes

Photo from tsaweb.org

The six officers who lead the conferences, have their pictures posted on promo materials, work on improving the organization, and looked awesome in official attire. Admit it, you were jealous.

3. The words “official attire” still make you shudder.

Photo by Uwa Ihionkhan

Grey pants or skirt, uncomfortable blue button-down shirt, black dress shoes, and a red tie for the guys is not the most aesthetically pleasing combination of clothing. You only wore official attire when your advisor told you it was absolutely necessary to.

4. General assembly meant naptime.

Photo by Trevor O'Connor

Three hours of announcements, speeches, awards, rules, regulations, and more. Let’s be real, the only parts you listened to were officer elections and the awards (but only for your events). If you were in Chapter Team, you were the only one who enjoyed - or even understood - the shade thrown at the business meeting.

5. People have asked if you belong to the Transportation Security Administration.

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We are the real TSA. I mean, the Technology Student Association is on the second page of Google results for “TSA.” Trips to the airport in official attire always caused confusion.

6. You have TSA friends from all over the country (and world).

Photo by Robyn Roper

If you went to Nationals, you met people from almost all 50 states and Germany and Turkey, probably soliciting pins during pin trading at Nationals. You might still keep up with them today, even if it is only through social media.

7. You know that all the people staying at the Gaylord during Nationals probably wish they picked another weekend.

Photo by Michelle Mestres

Thousands of high school and middle school students in one hotel resort? At the very least, getting an elevator after general assembly was impossible.

8. You have an endless supply of TSA t-shirts, pins, badges, etc.

Photo by Stacy McDearmon

You have a large collection of TSA swag that fills an entire drawer. Chances are you still wear the t-shirt you got from the TSA state leadership conference during your sophomore year of high school.

9. You know that TSA is kind of a big deal.

Notable alumni include Mark Zuckerberg, Carrie Underwood, Hunter Hayes, Chad Hurley, and Andy Hertzfeld (photos from Wikipedia, ticketcrusader.com, and stupidinternational.com)

Did you know that the U.S. Army and Verizon Wireless sponsor events through TSA? Did you know that Google, tech hubs, and colleges and universities put up booths at Nationals? Did you know that TSA students receive patents for their projects? If not, you should.

10. You know that TSA was a large part of your learning experience and will benefit you whether or not you pursue a STEM career.

Photo by Chandler Bise

We learned to live in a technical world and will always be proud alumni.