The group met up at a classmate's house one afternoon, right after finishing their online INPR presentation. Everyone was already tired from presenting earlier, but the PCDL circuit deadline was close. After eating and taking some time to recover, they eventually started working on the circuits.
The work started simple enough. Place the components, connect the parts, test if it lights up. Then the problems showed up. Some circuits worked fine on the first try. Others didn't. One LED kept flickering like a broken Christmas light instead of showing any actual number, which made everyone laugh even though they knew it had to be fixed. Another circuit just stayed dark no matter what anyone tried.
The afternoon turned into a lot of checking, adjusting, testing again. Students hunched over their circuits, comparing notes with each other, asking if anyone else's was doing the same thing. "Try switching this part." "Check if that connection's loose." Small fixes that sometimes worked, sometimes didn't.
Not everyone could stay the whole time. Some people had long commutes and needed to leave before it got too late. They'd finish their circuits later back at school. The ones who stayed kept working, helping each other troubleshoot until their circuits finally displayed the right outputs.
By the time people started packing up, the group had finished two tasks in one day. The afternoon ended up being longer and more frustrating than anyone expected, but at least everything got done before the deadline.