Re: So you do FIRST..... Why?
 

Why did I start? Hrm, though I almost got scared and walked away from the room where that first meeting was being held my freshman year, I was curious. I had seen other robotics competitions on the discovery channel before, and they were my favorite things to watch. By the end of the 1997 video, I was hooked and there was no going back!

I'm still with FIRST for one reason. The people. Don't get me wrong, I love the engineering side (FIRST is the only reason I'll be majoring in Mechanical Engineering next fall) - but with everything, it's the people that make me come back each season for more. All the friends i've made, and the ones I've yet to meet.

This year was odd for me. I had outgrown my old team (69), and found myself taken in by others. Bobcat Robotics (177) and the Flashbacks (168) never thought twice about picking up a random FIRSTer without a home...and although this year was tough with my team in CT with me in MA, and the team that took me in for Nationals down in Miami, that hardship was worth every minute, and honestly, I think this season was my best one of all.

Oh yeah, and I'll be back next year ;o) Although I'd love to stay with my Bobcats, my college duties call me to Tigerbolt (73)...and so it continues ;o)

~ lora

I finally get to tell my story!
 

I recieved a letter saying I was recomended by teachers to be on a Robotics Team. But a whole bunch of people got them so I didn't take it seriously and let the deadline pass.

I thought about it, free trip, all my friends, and I have nothing else to do. So I kind of got in on the sly. People were turned down b/c it was to late. So I was blessed to get in.

Still in the Pre-season I went to the meetings. They were very boring and I was thinking about dropping out. But I said I got in late and got in by luck so it would look bad to drop out.

Then I got hooked ot it when January came!!! I couldn't stay away, I had sooo much fun, I met new friends. Had fun with everybody. FIRST rose my self-esteem. I didn't know anything about engineering and did a whole bunch of stuff. FIRST was a blessing from god! I love it and I am a FIRST-a-holic. I can't get enough of it. I glad I have two more years left.

I was the tallest person on my team so I was the human player. I had fun donig that also. I hope to be a team leader and a driver next year. So look for my face with those two joysticks in my hand next year.

I even decided what I wanted to do for the rest of my life during the 6 weeks. Be an engineer. I plan to be with FIRST my next two years of high school and through college.

Thank You FIRST!!

Changing the world...
 

I was looking for something that I thought could not only change the people I could directly contact but was part of a larger program that would change the wider culture.

FIRST was all that.

I really believe in the importance of the mission of FIRST and how they were going about implementing their mission.

That is basically my story.

Joe J.

Just Because
 

Wait a second... I just have to drool over the new CD site for a bit... yea, yea, definitely killer site, definitely killer... Awesome job guys... Okay, now that that's done with, my story.

Originally I had intended to study Drama in High School. But I was lured away by a robot I saw being driven around by a bunch of older kids when I was touring the school and deciding whether to go or not. So I got bitten by the FIRST bug in my sophomore year. It definitely hit me and for 3 years FIRST was pretty much my life. No offense to FIRST, but I do wish I had kept some kind of balance between it and real life. The 3rd year was a bit awkward for me, as there were great changes with my team which I didnt agree with, so now in this past 4th year I leaned more towards Volunteering with FIRST.

Thats a very simplified, very basic FIRST life story (which by the way, I AM working on turning into a FIRST musical, ::Nods toward FIRST rock bands to provide music:: =^). Is it the end of the story? No. Simply because of all of the connections and friends I've made with FIRST. And because of what FIRST is doing for America and the World. I truly believe 100% in the values that FIRST holds high and I don't ever plan to leave it completely, although I do plan to persue a career in the entertainment industry now. Dont worry though, I still plan to help FIRSTanimators along and be there at competitions. Not to mention that when I hit it big in the entertainment field, make the public much more aware of FIRST. :D.

hahah
 

I joined so I could meet RobbyO. It was fate in the making.

Haha, no, but I'm glad I have, I know no one else that owns a pogo stick.

I was dragged to as a 12-year-old girl to watch this NH regional competition in 1995 cause my brother was on some stupid engineer thing and my dad didn't want to make the car ride alone.

Next thing I knew, I was a freshman in high school talking to my best friend Emily.. "you HAVE to do this robot thing. it's amazing. you'll love it, trust me."

Next thing I knew.. we were sophomores and the only two girls up on stage controlling the robot.

Next thing I knew I was in college co-running a team.

Next thing I knew I was @ WPI working as crew chief.

It's crazy what parents do for you huh? I'm glad my dad didn't feel like driving the hour alone. I'm glad they stood by me every night that I called progressive later my first 3 years of FIRST. I'm glad they understand and support my desires.

I do it for them. The showed me the world and allowed me to take and give what I wanted to it. And my many accomplishments in it allow them to be proud of me and that's what keeps me going.

In 1999 it was the best as I was a senior in high school. I laughed when we won the UTC regional and my mom bragged "That's my girl on stage". And they were the first ones I thought of when I won the DesignYourFuture award the same year. And my mom cried when I got a standing O. It was one of her proudest moments. I do it for her and my dad.

And I have you guys to thank for giving me the opportunity.

*end sappiness* :P

my reasons for doing FIRST
 

As some of you know, my first experience with FIRST was in '96 when I was a senior in highschool. It was the first year for Wildstang and a teacher at Rolling Meadows was looking for students to join a robot competition with Motorola. It sounded like fun and I wanted to go into engineering so I joined the team. The experience I had was beyond my expectations. I enjoyed the time we spent designing & building the robot, and the competitions in NH & Disney. I also learned a lot about how stuff gets done in the real world. I always tell people that it was the best experience I had in highschool.

Skip over my 4 years at school & interning at Motorola and jump to this year.

I came back to the team as an engineer in order to give back to the current students at RM & Wheeling the same opportunities I had. I want them to have fun, to get excited about engineering, and to learn. I believe that along with the other adults on the team, I can play a part in improving the lives of the students on the team by showing my enthusiasm for FIRST and for my job.

And of course another reason for being involved with FIRST is becasue it's still as much fun as it was in '96. I enjoyed the time crunch of leading my team to complete the scouting software before the competitions started. I loved seeing what strategies and designs other teams came up with, and how teams use different designs to accomplish the same task. I also had the pleasure of meeting engineers, teachers, and students from teams across the country and look forward to seeing and working with them again next year.

The final reason is it's an activity where I can still learn. Before the season started, I knew almost nothing about MS Access and Visual Basic, but I taught myself enough to be able to design and build the scouting software with 2 students. I also learned how difficult managing an engineering team can be, and hopefully improved my management skills.

That's my story :)

Mike

Re: my reasons for doing FIRST
 

I'm sorry. FIRST shouldn't have to be THAT painful. ;)

Matt who really dislikes Access and VB....and has to write an ASP accessible Database for work....*sigh*....

Re: Just Because
 

well...assuming things go as planned there will be a first band there next year, cuz me and some friends i have on my team are making one...itll be punk/ska/rock...

When I was in High School, I participated in a similar competition. It was a design competition, where the students were to concept, design, and build a funcitoning robot without the help of any teachers or adults. Our robot failed, miserably. It was one of the worst experiences in my life because we had absolutely no help and we didn't know a thing about what we were supposed to do. In fact, our "aides" even refused to help us when we asked for some advice.

Now, I'm the engineer, and I have the chance to give back to the students, to pass on my knowledge and experiences, and to help them become better students and better people. There's no greater reward than that.


Bengineer - Buzz 175

I particapate in FIRST for a couple of reasons. First (no pun intended) I love my team and the people on it, its a blast to come back every year, its fun traveling with them and they are cool people. Second, I wouldn't have known about FIRST if it wasn't for my grandfather, he is an engineer at Hamilton Sundstrand (our sponsor) he started in 1998, I was in 6th grade, I went to NJ, and Rumble at the Rock. I loved it. I came back in 1999, went to Hartford, and the Philly competition, Nationals, and Rumble. I loved it more. Last year in 8th grade I went to all of our competitions, meetings, and did more "hands on" stuff with our team. I did the small parts list and some other stuff, I also did some things with Chairmans. This year being a 4year freshman is really different from all of my other years, I have met soo many people it is awesome how cool all of the FIRST people are and how they get involved, and all of their crazy stories about FIRST. I love FIRST because it really gives you an oppurtunity to look at things from a different perspective and see what you can do with the stuff you have. I think this is really why I come back to the competitions every year- because I love it.
-Katie

:p

Very good thoughts....

At FIRST (hahaha...no pun intended there :D ) I didn't know what it was all about. I joined because none of the other clubs at school did not appeal to me during my freshman year. So I joined and I met soooo many new people because I had just moved to Enfield. That was a big plus for me, meeting new people that were doing the same stuff as me, (at my H.S. and all over the country!!) So I came back for a 2nd and 3rd year...and now a 4th year coming up for the 2002 season....there is no words to describe what FIRST has done for me and for my future!!

-Steve A.
Buzz Webmaster

Re: Changing the world...
 

BTW, nice new pic ;)

I heard about FIRST from Joe Ross' parents. He and some other friends were doing this robot competition with our school and three other schools. At that point it was about three weeks into the build season and I decided (wisely I think) that joining at that point I was more likely to be hinderance than help.

Over the summer I read that year's rule book. As I read it the phrase that kept coming to mind was "This is my Life". Every rule and restriction seemed to have a parallel to my life as a working engineer. (Even the "SPI only" rule) As I have since found out, the human elements in my working life also have their counterparts in FIRST. Fortunately my team is a lot less frustrating than my job in this respect.

I joined because I feel that the most important thing you can do for a young person is to help them find their calling in life. FIRST is a way to do that, especially if what they are really good at is something they haven't considered before. I find it a whole lot easier to SHOW the students what I do as an engineer than to tell them, and it makes it even easier when we have a mutually important problem to solve.

Many of us in FIRST are engineers, and no matter what we try to be or do we will still wind up being engineers. These people will be happier if they get proper training in what they are going to do anyway. But there are still a large fraction of FIRSTers who are not engineers, but are instead publicists, administrators, artists, writers and who knows what all. Each has an important place to fulfill in society and on a FIRST team. Better to figure out what it is before you're too old to do something about it

Wow! lots of replys already...
Lets see...I got to tag along with our 2000 team to Florida last year since my sister was a senior on the team. Ashleigh, (my bud & teammate) was there too, (her sister was also on the team) and, to make a long story short, we were hooked.

Well, since i like to weasel my way into everything, we convinced our coach to open the previously seniors only team to underclassmen. And, the rest is history. FIRST is a blast!

(but we all know that the real reason i do FIRST is so I can live at the school. heh heh)

~Mimi

I think I answered this many times, so here are the basics....
 

Why'd you start doing FIRST?

My FIRST life started when I saw a really cool poster of something call "GRT" on some random wall of Gunn high school. That picture showed something with wheels and a claw that's holding a big red ball. Then, one day some unknown students went to my math class and told us about the Gunn Robotics Team, and I received a flyer about it. I found myself facing the GRT application like a college application, and I eventually got in.


Why are you still doing it?

There were two phase of FIRST experience for me, the high school phase and the college phase.

I told you about how I got into the team. What you don't know is that I almost gave up on the team in the middle of my first year. What happened was that my component leader and I didn't exactly mix to well, and every time I try to talk to him he always completely ignore me as if I don’t exist. I found myself having nothing to do, until one night I spoke up and told my team leader I had nothing to do. Daniel Lehrbaum was really helpful at that time, and transferred me to another component leader (Eric Henderson), and Eric was really demanding and resourceful. He asked a lot from me, and at the same time, showed me the way around the machine shop... IF I was never transferred under him, I would never have cared enough to continue and became the driver of the robot, as well as head of workshop... So it was Luck and the GRT people that kept me going the first year.

I decided to go back to GRT from college because I wish to teach the newcomer things I learned from GRT. I felt that I had to give something back because GRT totally changed my life. And because my second year as a senior I machined a lot of the robot by myself, I wasn't able to teach a lot of people about machining. I was afraid that the knowledge I gain from the team wouldn’t be able to be passed on to the next class. So, that's why I went back to GRT to become a mentor to that team... So, it was the desire to teach that kept me going in my third year… Well, also because I got to go to kickoff.


Why did you decide to help out on a more general case instead of for a particular team (if applicable)?

I decided to help out on a more general case instead of a particular team because I feel that I can help out a lot more people compare to just one team. All the things I learned from the machine shop, the GRT students and mentors, other FIRST people and teams, and this Forum... are so much that I can a lot of people should benefit from. And, I wish to help all the teams in my area to get better so they can continue in doing more FIRST even if they are getting new people every year...