This is the year...

[Rich Kressly]

This is the year that we all realize the mission of FIRST with far greater success than ever before. How? Instead of making huge plans as an individual, we ALL make an individual promise to carry out these important, attainable goals.

- Relish you role, accept it as imperfect as it may be, and enjoy it. It matters not if you are a mentor, student, alum, or a support-person. You may never get a chance at it again.

- Choose one person on your team, the one no one else is paying attention to, and inspire.
- Choose another person on your team, the one who has really stepped up and hasn’t been noticed yet, and recognize.
- Choose a third person in FIRST, from somewhere other than your own team, and do one of the above.

- Only think of Gracious Professionalism as a standard to work toward personally.
- Never use it as a gauge to point out someone else’s shortcomings.

- Compete harder than you did last year.
- Share more than you did last year.

- Get to know a different part of FIRST this year, one you know very little about.

- Do/Learn one thing this year that betters your future.
- Do/Teach one thing this year that betters the future of your team.
- Do one thing this year that leaves FIRST in better shape than you found it in.

- Have the courage to carry the FIRST message into the rest of your life.
- Be willing to say, “I participate in FIRST because I want to change the culture for the better” even though you know many will not understand and may even laugh at you.

It’s impossible to know who’s life you will change forever. Don’t miss an opportunity. I’m an optimist. Have a great season. This is the year.

Namaste…

[Richard Wallace]

Well said, Rich. I bow to the divine spark within you.

[Adam Richards]

*starts chanting* Sticky! Sticky! Sticky!

Great post Rich!

[Nuttyman54]

*starts chanting* Sticky! Sticky! Sticky!

Great post Rich!

I second that motion! I think that really sums up what FIRST is about. Now if he can somehow make that into a rhyme....

[Rohan_DHS]

very nicely put, sir :)

[nehalita]

i third the motion for the sticky. i think everyone should read this..if not once, then twice, thrice, or more.

Mr. Kressly brings up an excellent point here: the first place to start a change is with yourself. Don't forget that as you look around you.

[Arefin Bari]

Mr. Kressly, I am speechless again. Whenever I have a conversation with you or read your post, I learn or realize something new. This thread should go on sticky as suggested above. Thanks Mr. Kressly.

[tiffany34990]

i've read this over and over and i didn't know what to say afterwards till now...as we approach this new year..we can look and try to change things for the better... there is hope..the year hasn't begun...this year, things can become better if we want it too. there are so many great people in FIRST, everyone simply amazes me time after time... we can change this world for the better..it just takes little steps and the wanting too...i wish everyone a great new year and season :)
may all have peace and happiness....

wonderful post Mr. Kressly... i hope we all can try to accomplish these things. i will certainly try my best..

[bigh704]

I appreciate the sentiments you expressed. I hope others take these words to heart and have a great year.

IMAGINATION

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
Knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world.

- Albert Einstein

I am impressed each year at the imagination shown by those involved in FIRST.

Although I am old - I am new to forums - please forgive any errors I make as I learn.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

[Ashley Christine]

Wow. Good points.

:)

[John Wanninger]

Mr. Kressly, how did you know I wanted tools and maps for Christmas?

Thank you for the very wonderful GP resource kit!

[Tim Delles]

Mr. Kressly very well put. We should all strive to achieve what you have said., because this truely is the mission of FIRST. Thanks for showing us all this again.

[Chuck Glick]

very well put Kres. see you first period monday.

[Metalhugginman]

Outstanding post! This should be required reading for each team! :]

[double_check]

I'm so emailing this to the rest of my team. Thanks for such great words.

[SenseiSkins]

this is the dawning of the age of aquarius....just messin wit ya. I think that this year will be fun to watch the robots shooting things heck yeahl, its so manly, i want more power!!!

[IraJason]

Kressly, just like pretty much everything you say, this is most definitely relavent to what we are doing. Most of the time it's good to hear your advice.

[Nita]

I'm making everyone on my team read this for sure! It's surely worth the sticky. Thank you for the post. :)

[Jeremiah Johnson]

This post is going up on our wall!!!

[Eric Scheuing]

Spirit of FIRST much?

[CourtneyB]

Sticky! :D

This is the year that everyone will win an award for gracious professionalism and feel great about it!

-Court-

[379Robocat]

That sumed up the meaning of FIRST. Thanks for reminding everyone what FIRST is about because sometimes I feel that people or teams forget what FIRST is all about. I feel that those are words that everyteam should live by and every team should have that hanging on their robotics room, on a website or on their forum. Thanks again for reminding everyone. I am now going to print that up and take it to our build rooom and pr room and post it on our team forum.

[rees2001]

Thank you, you are an inspiration. FIRST needs more people like you. I just wish I could have read this 7 years ago when I started. I hope you don't mind but I am going to make a poster of this for our robotics room. Such a simple message but somehow overlooked by so many for so long. I try to encourage these concepts with my students but I never found such a straightforward way to get the message out. Keep up the good work.

I second the sticky idea. I missed this the first time around.

[the_short1]

[Claps] 4ths the sticky.

Those are some very great words, and i will print that off and pass it around the team.

-kevin

[Rich Kressly]

OK gang, roll call. How'd we do? My responses are next to the ***below

This is the year that we all realize the mission of FIRST with far greater success than ever before. How? Instead of making huge plans as an individual, we ALL make an individual promise to carry out these important, attainable goals.

- Relish you role, accept it as imperfect as it may be, and enjoy it. It matters not if you are a mentor, student, alum, or a support-person. You may never get a chance at it again.
***I've had my moments of utter frustration, but I can honestly say I've had a blast with 1712 and as an SM this past year. Although it's hectic, I get to hang out with REALLY cool people.

- Choose one person on your team, the one no one else is paying attention to, and inspire.
***I feel I started down this path with a few folks (a few really cool stories), but I also feel like I fell short with a few others.

- Choose another person on your team, the one who has really stepped up and hasn’t been noticed yet, and recognize.
***Oh yeah, the "black shirt" (ask me if you're really curious) is just one example.

- Choose a third person in FIRST, from somewhere other than your own team, and do one of the above.
***Yep, as an SM I got to recognize over 200 mentors at the Philly Regional with a certificate.

- Only think of Gracious Professionalism as a standard to work toward personally.
- Never use it as a gauge to point out someone else’s shortcomings.
***I think I did a good job of not gauging others "out loud", but I must confess I still do get caught up in this thinking. I need to be more personally aware of this ideal I've set forth, especially in my life outside of FIRST.

- Compete harder than you did last year.
***I think I may have personally fallen short here, but I can say that some on 1712 worked harder than they ever have.

- Share more than you did last year.
***As far as the robot goes, no. As rookies we had very little of value to share/offer. As far as "other" parts of FIRST go, I was able to share some of my thoughts/ideas with other teams in ways I never have before.

- Get to know a different part of FIRST this year, one you know very little about.
***I was VERY fortunate to be a part of FVC game design. This was very cool and I learned a lot.

- Do/Learn one thing this year that betters your future.
***My work with 1712 and school personnel directly led me to seek teacher's certiciation in Technology Education. In April I took the test and In May I learned I passed. As of late June I will now be certified to teach both English and Tech Ed (Robotics, CAD, etc).

- Do/Teach one thing this year that betters the future of your team.
***We got "underway" this year with 1712. A robotics course will be in the curriculum, our gifted 6th graders will be using the NXT system and an FLL model next year, and other steps are in progress.

- Do one thing this year that leaves FIRST in better shape than you found it in.
***I think so. Aligning FIRST activities with Education Standards in two states seems to be leading to better health of FIRST in PA and Delaware. However, we have lost an FRC team or two and there are still major obstacles to overcome in my region.

- Have the courage to carry the FIRST message into the rest of your life.
- Be willing to say, “I participate in FIRST because I want to change the culture for the better” even though you know many will not understand and may even laugh at you.
***I'll admit, this is hard for me. Many of my friends outside of FIRST think the robot thing is interesting, but explaining it to them still results in puzzled looks. I often feel like I'm monopolizing the conversation, so, at that point, I back off. I do need to find a way to "not monopolize" and get to the "core message" faster.

-It’s impossible to know who’s life you will change forever. Don’t miss an opportunity. I’m an optimist. Have a great season. This is the year.
***I'm still an optimist, I had a great season. I still have a lot more to do and to improve upon. How about you?

Namaste…

[KathieK]

- Relish you role, accept it as imperfect as it may be, and enjoy it. It matters not if you are a mentor, student, alum, or a support-person. You may never get a chance at it again. ***My role morphed as the year progressed, from last June through this May. Some of it I enjoyed, some I didn't. It's all about growth as a person, though.

- Choose one person on your team, the one no one else is paying attention to, and inspire.
- Choose another person on your team, the one who has really stepped up and hasn’t been noticed yet, and recognize.
- Choose a third person in FIRST, from somewhere other than your own team, and do one of the above.** not being on a team, I failed to do this. Perhaps I've inspired that one person, though, in the past?


- Only think of Gracious Professionalism as a standard to work toward personally.
- Never use it as a gauge to point out someone else’s shortcomings.
** ah, another one of those life lessons learned. I was less than GP at one meeting I attended but did apologize afterwards.

- Compete harder than you did last year.
- Share more than you did last year. **I'm not about the competition ,but boy did I work harder than I did last year! And I'm sharing as much as I can!

- Get to know a different part of FIRST this year, one you know very little about. **This is a huge understatement for me. Having only been a mentor on a team, and never having volunteered for an event, I jumped into it headlong and served on two regional planning committees and the conference planning committee and wow, what a different side of FIRST! My recommendation to EVERY FIRST participant, find a competition, demonstration, or off-season event and volunteer for it. Find a different FIRST program (there are four of them you know!) and learn all about it. Make it part of your FIRST experience every year.

- Do/Learn one thing this year that betters your future.
- Do/Teach one thing this year that betters the future of your team.
- Do one thing this year that leaves FIRST in better shape than you found it in. ** In the last year I've learned that I CAN stand up before a group of people and facilitate a meeting, or give a presentation, or organize an event. I've spread the message of FIRST to hundreds of people at conferences. I've built a website to help support mentors of the FIRST robotics programs teams. I've met a lot of people along the way that I wouldn't have met otherwise.

- Have the courage to carry the FIRST message into the rest of your life.
- Be willing to say, “I participate in FIRST because I want to change the culture for the better” even though you know many will not understand and may even laugh at you. **I talk about it incessently. My tiny cubicle walls are covered in FIRST posters and pictures and buttons and team giveaways. I wear my "Ask me about FIRST" button on my coat. Anyone who knows me knows about my passion.

[rees2001]

This is the year!

[Robot Goddess]

These are most definitely words for every team to hear, rookie and veteran alike! This will go out to my team, any member who can't come on the internet and read it personally.

[fabbuki]

Rich, this is the most inspiring post I've seen in months. You truly have the spirit of FIRST at heart.

I wish all of you teams out there, good luck! And try not to lose too much sleep this build (none of ya will listen, I bet)!

And get a pizza discount card. They help a lot.

-fabbuki

[Dancing_Chuck]

This is the year that we finally make it to Atlanta!

[synth3tk]

I gotta print this out for our team! Couldn't put it any better than that.

[chris(bs)parks]

that is an excellent thought. every year kids put so many goals in front of them and when they notice that theres so much in there way or that they cant accomplish them all they get down and want to give up.but if we all work together as a whole as a FIRST family then we can accomplish our goals which end up being each others' goals giving each other hope and something to look forward to knowing that he/she has the power and heart to accomplish the tasks in front of them.by working together we can accomplish much more than going solo

[Lady Lightning]

Wow - that was deep

[ShotgunNinja]

Beautiful.

[pipka]

Very nice... =)

[NorviewsVeteran]

can you spotlight something that long?

[JaneYoung]

can you spotlight something that long?

There have been suggestions made to be able to spotlight entire posts. Hopefully, someday that will be a possibility. It is inspiring, isn't it?

[synth3tk]

I "spotlighted" it in multiple ways. First, I sent the email to every team member I had an address for. Then, I printed out two copies, each for a window in our shop.

This is the best write-up I've ever read regarding FIRST.

[AllenGregoryIV]

Even though this is 7 years old, I think it's still as applicable as ever. Thank you Rich for reminding all of us why we play this game.

[Starke]

Rich,

Thank you for sharing this great series of inspiration. I am looking forward to another great year! For those interested, I created a PDF of the words from Rich. Please see the attachment if you would like to save or print the document. Go teams!

[Kims Robot]

Huh I cannot believe I missed this years ago (or somehow don't remember it).

I love the revival - I actually didn't realize it was old - apparently it is timeless!!

I would LOVE to see someone generate a little quarter sized sheet (or even abbreviated wallet sized) checklist... and then see how many of us can check off every box. Forget buttons, keychains & swag - lets hand out checklists! :-D

Have an amazing 2013 everyone!!

[Rich Kressly]

I don't spend a ton of time here these days, but it's good to see people still get something from this. It's easy to get "lost" in the details when time and sleep get short and stress gets high during a build season. I'm glad this continues to act as a reminder for folks and teams in FRC and across the robotics education community. Namaste all, and good luck in 2013!

[CNettles11]

Thank you for the great post, I was honestly going about things with the wrong attitude until I saw it. Is it alright if I print this out and hang it up in the robotics shop? Out team captain really wants to have it printed and posted in the workshop, but I wanted to make sure that it's alright with you first.

[Rich Kressly]

Thank you for the great post, I was honestly going about things with the wrong attitude until I saw it. Is it alright if I print this out and hang it up in the robotics shop? Out team captain really wants to have it printed and posted in the workshop, but I wanted to make sure that it's alright with you first.

You may do anything you'd like with it. Good luck with your season.

[IKE]

...

I would LOVE to see someone generate a little quarter sized sheet (or even abbreviated wallet sized) checklist... and then see how many of us can check off every box. Forget buttons, keychains & swag - lets hand out checklists! :-D
...

Cough...Vista Print Business Card...Cough

I really like this idea. I carry a similar card from a friend Greg Boz.

[AllenGregoryIV]

As we move into the new year, we can all be reminded of why we do this each year and what we can all do to make it a great year.

Thanks again for the great post Rich