So you do FIRST..... Why?
 

So I'm not asking for a novel about your FIRST life, but I'm curious.

Why'd you start doing FIRST?

Why are you still doing it?

What made you keep truckin' through everything if you switched teams?

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

That's usually a question I ask myself during FIRST season; usually not now because I'm not really doing too much at the moment so it's much easier to forget how much work it is. So on with the answering of the question. Part of me does it because it's helping the community. I'm giving back what I got in high school. Part of me does it because it's a challenege. Part of me does it now because I'm still learning from FIRST. However, given all that I can only conclude that the only reason I do FIRST and continue to do FIRST is because FIRST is fun. I don't think I could put up with the stress, with the workload, with the sleepless nights, with all of it if in the end FIRST wasn't fun. So there, now everyone can see my selfish reasons for doing FIRST. ;)

Matt

I do it for the fun and stres of meeting atimeline-
i also do it because I like to see my students create something and the pride they have when people congratualte them on doing something so cool


(and I also do It because i am a nerd!!!! and love it




dahl

A Free Trip to Disney World
 

Seriously, it was a free trip to Disney World that got me involved with FIRST.

When I was growing up, I didn't get a lot of opportunity to travel and see things. When I first got involved with FIRST, I was about 8 months out of college and still up to my ears in college debt. Then when I heard I could get a trip to Disney World out of the deal, I said, "what at heck (or something like that), I don't have a lot going on in the winter and I could put up with some extra work to go on a trip." Of course, once the project got rolling, I became hooked.

Now, I could really care less if I never got to go to Disney World again. I do it for a lot of reasons. One is that I'm an extremely competitive person and it's a good outlet for me to get it out of my system. Second is that I enjoy working with the students and showing them how interesting math can be. Third, is that I enjoy meeting all of the people involved in FIRST. My best friend in the Detroit area I met through our FIRST team. Moving to a big city from a small town and being a 4-hour drive from all of your family and friends can be difficult for a while. It was nice to be able to meet some new people.

One serious point to note in all of this is that Disney really does get a lot of people started in FIRST. People need to be careful when they say that we should forget about Disney and just do it at the GeorgiaDome or something like that. FIRST still needs the "hook" of Disney to get a lot of the first-timers. Now, if FIRST were on TV like BattleBots, it would be a different story, but that's been discussed to death on another thread.

all of my friends joined last year and had an awesome time so i joined to see what it was and stuff...
its wierd, before first i always seemed to be a verbal (i dont know how to put it really...like i was never good at science and stuff and just didnt generally like that type of stuff)
but after i joined first i got into engineering and all that and now im conisdering becoming an engineer

I became *interested* in FIRST when you WPI people (well, I guess this was a year before you came to WPI, kate) showed the entire Junior class that ESPN video in the Fishbowl. That got me to goto Philly and UTC. After those comps, I was hooked and FIRST became a major part of my life.

Now, leaving Mass Academy/WPI was hard, because I knew I was going to a College without a team. But due to a number of reasons -- most importantly the challenge of it -- I decided to try start a team at Cornell or in Ithaca. It's been a great experience -- I've met lots of students, professors, administration, and people in the community. Most importantly, I know that high school students (and perhaps college too) are benefitting from their experience on the team.

Through all this, I'm not sure where FIRST lies in my future. Although the challenge I gave myself of starting a team is completed and my team would likely be fine without me, I will probably remain involved as a mentor throughout the next three years.

Patrick

Why did I start? because someone that I knew and respected told me that she thought I would make a better roboticist than a computer programmer (which is what I used to want to do)

Why do I continue? because I have a blast and learn many new things each year.

Why I started
 

I started because I enjoy building things (ex. I've worked for a construction company all my life until this summer when i traded it in for a cad job) and because a couple of my friends were doing it. The reason that I continue? I enjoy the program so much that I've basically dropped everything else that I did besides school and work and just do this now. Going to wpi was decided upon primarily due to FIRST, especially when you consider what happened at 8:30 am on april 8, 2000. If not for wpi, I would have gone to Northeastern to do FIRST there (I don't want to hear any sarcastic laughs, being on a national championship team is not important). So all and all, I just love FIRST, and now I'm learning to be a mechanical engineer.
Tim

I was drafted.
 

I took a class called Principles of Engineering when I was a junior in high school. It was easy, I finished everything quickly, did better than most everyone else in the class, and got to know the teacher very well.

When I was a senior, he got information about FIRST from someone. . . probably Mr. Breithut, the coordinator of our Long Island Regional. He hunted me down one day, showed me the brochure, and asked if I wanted to do it. After glancing over it, watching the video, and thinking, "Hey, this is like those things they do at MIT," I agreed.

So, I got involved by getting drafted. I'd never seen or heard of the program before, but my teacher knew of my interest in designing complex systems and things (mainly amusement devices, though) and the rest is pretty much history.

I switched teams only when my high school's team had a problem with some other alumni and was begrudgingly forced to ban all alumni, and next year, it might be on to another team as Christina and I try to start one up and get sponsorship from school.

If you all want the honest truth as to why I joined FIRST, I was forced into it. When I was in seventh and eighth grade my dad was our the teacher in charge (this was our teams first two years in competition). Freshman year I had no plans to do it anymore. The people who I saw in SPAM either scared me b/c of their brillance in enigneering or b/c of their downright stragness. I also knew how much time it took up. Even those two years that I wasn't officially a member of the team, I seemed to have no time to do anything.
Then my friend took me aside in mid-October of my freshman year and told me that I was going to the SPAM meetings, that I would be in FIRST again, and that I was going to have fun. I just groaned and started going to the meetings.
Over that year, I really started to get to know the other students and engineers on my team. The team members who I had known from previous years took me under their wing and taught me everything. I went to the KSC regional and nats that year and loved it.
Ever since..I've met so many people, learned so much, and had such a great time that I couldn't see myself not doing FIRST.
Sorry for such a long reply.. :)

~ Angela who hopes to do FIRST in college, but still has two years of high school to worry about that

The name?...
 

As a young freshman, new to the hallways of my current high school, I noticed a poster for a club known as "RAGE." Unsure why a high school club would have such a name, I inquired about it in the main office. From there it is all history....

Still doing FIRST and not sure why. I guess its because it instills such a drive in its student members, that they never want to leave...

as I was reading the posts I cazme upon a TRUTH

FIRST is a lot like teaching form me- its not something you can do part time or only when meetings start-

FIrst much like teaching for me is a way of life- iam constaly striveing to learn more about it

i find my self looking at these forums three foru times a day (inbetween classes)
and building weird little robots out of stuff that my wife wishes I left in the trash or the dump

I just dont DO FIRST- I live it


dahl

Last year when i saw signs......
 

Last school year(1999-2000) I saw signs around school about a Robotics Team starting in January and under the sign says Florida trip. So a couple of my friends and I said that we should go and take a look. Once stepped into the meeting, I knew I would join not because of the trip to Florida but to learn about engineering.

Now i don't know what I want to do, either Comp Sci, Electrical Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering. :confused:
Thanks alot FIRST. :)

Why did I join robotics? Well, for several reasons. Firstly, I am (wait, school's out, was :) ) a freshman in high school and I wasn't really doing any extracurricular activities so when I heard an announcment for a robotics club, I decided to attend the meeting. Secondly, I have always known I'm gonna be an engineer when I grow up mainly because my dad is an EE, but I really hadn't had much experiance with any form of engineering besides CE. Anyway, I got hooked and I'm definately gonna do this for my next three years of high school as well as in college. If this year was so good, next year can only be better.

Somewhere a few years ago GM decided to further expand its membership in FIRST and picked my division CRW to join in with Troy High School. They figured we would do well because Robotics are in our Name (Controls,Robotics,Welding) However little did they know how competitive this whole thing really is. Our last years robot was really cool (in our minds) but then we went to Reigonals and I truely could not believe that there were 60 designs that were not like each other but built to perform the same task. It was really cool to see that some engineers and students think alike, since our robot was similar in concept to CD5 with the telescoping boom and basket, minus feedback and swerve :) . Same thing this year but even bigger, first time I saw 308, and CD6 this year at reigonals I though man what amazing feats of engineering have taken place especially in the ultra short timeframe. What keeps you coming back to this? I have to think that almost any engineer is intrigued by seeing ingenious designs, some designs are tiny little additions that made their life easier (Many robots remote mounted the tether and programming ports for easier access, I thought, wow, we complained every time we had to feed the cable to the center of the robot why didn't we do this) To major engineering feats like the 4 wheel steering and autobalancing from off or on the ramp, or ingenious ways to grab the goals, the list goes on. I think I will be in this for a long time simply because there was nothing this impressive to me in Highschool, and maybe not even in college. There are a bunch of people out there that need practical knowledge along with theory, explain to someone gearing and torque they might understand, build, experiment, and see the results of ratios and that might just be the ticket. Finally to all the students out there I leave you with this, most engineers are really kinda kids at heart, we love to play with things, design, build, and even break things, its what engineering is all about, thats why we like FIRST

Matt

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...

My story:

I tried out for the FIRST because none of my friends did it. I wanted to be different. Plus on #16, it's competitive to just get on the team. Basically, I entered my application and went through the interview just to see if I would be picked. Then when I was picked, I was happy, but scared. I knew nothing about building anything.
After my first year on Bomb Squad, I was hooked. FIRST is great for me because I enjoy so many different things. Robot building is a blast, but so is publicity, public relations, fundraising, Chairman's Award. It allowed me to dabble in everything. Then after attending the competitions, how could anyone not be hooked? The energy is enough to make me want to come back for more.
After I gradutated, I was unsure what to do. I was really nervous to join another team that wasn't as successful as Bomb Squad, but now, I realize that I was being selfish. Joining 356 as a college student, has been one of the best things I ever did. Now I know that FIRST can be fun even without winning. I love it because no matter what, I know that I'm making a difference. Medals are nice, but in FIRST we all win.

-becky

Here's why I do it.
 

Simply put... I love to do it.

I enjoy many aspects of FIRST... it includes great aspects that have driven me all of my life.

1. I enjoy mentoring and working with young adults. Not only am I involved with FIRST, but I've also been a Big Brother for 6 years. I am so proud of my Little Brother... he leaves for basic training in the Army tomorrow. His goal is to be a Ranger, and he'll make it. After some major setbacks in his life, he is finally succeeding. I am glad to be a part of his life. If any of you want to make a huge impact on a young person, get involved with Big Brothers.

2. I like to design. Delphi pays me to design machinery for our production lines. I'm decent at it and I enjoy it, so I might as well share it with young adults. I hope that they can see that they can make a good career for themselves by doing something that they like to do, as I do.

3. I'm darn competitive. I played sports all of my life, up until a few years ago, when I finally grew up. After running around a football field for 14 years (grades 4-12, college, semi-pro), I realized that there are better things to do with my time. I even tried coaching football, but didn't see how teaching a kid to tackle is helping them with their life.

Currently, I have given up all other liesure activities so that I can stay in FIRST. My family and church come first, and my job comes second. FIRST is the only thing that I do on my spare time that is outside of family and church. I see my friends once in a while, and I may go golfing 2-3 times a summer, but that's about it. And, like I said above, I love it, and I would have it no other way.

As we were travelling back from the LA Regional, my wife was sitting next to me on the plane. We previously had the agreement that 2001 was going to be my last year in FIRST. Out of nowhere, she says "You cannot give this up. You like this too much, and you cannot leave FIRST." Thank God my wife is supportive of me being involved in FIRST and the TechnoKats, although she just doesn't get the whole FIRST thing.

So, I'm back for more.

Andy B.

Glad to hear Andy
 

Andy, I remember you mentioning that you may not be back next year when we went to the TechnoKats shop. When I heard that I was shocked and thought, "What would the TechnoKats and FIRST be like without Andy Baker?" I'm glad to hear that you will be returining for at least a few more years.:D

Thats about how I am too. Church is really the only thing that comes before FIRST. My family is kind of messed up, of course you're married so you actually have a family. I even let FIRST get in the way of school unfortunately. I got my first 'F' because of it. Its all my fault. It was my first year with FIRST so next year I plan to have my priorities in order but still be very involved with FIRST. Did FIRST get in the way of anyone else's school work?

yeah i suppose first did sorta get in the way of my school work...on the other hand my grades were never something to brag about (qpa: 2.5, give or take, probably take) so first couldnt affect my grades enough so that anyone'd notice

As a College student, being involved (well, a tad more than involved) with FIRST is very challenging. Somehow, I managed to maintain a 3.3 GPA during my freshman year, but FIRST can really be distracting. In the winter, I found myself skipping some of my classes routinely, so I could find more time to go down to the high school and do FIRST. Then, I found myself routinely not doing homework in certain classes. At the time, I was completely aware that I was neglecting my schoolwork, and that did not bother me at all. I knew that after we shipped the robot, I would have about 12 weeks to bring my grades up. However... After we shipped the robot, changing my habits was not as easy as I thought it would be. I kept on telling myself, "I didn't do homework or go to class for the last 5 weeks, so what will another week matter?" This mentality stayed with me probably into April. That's when I realized I needed to start concentrating on my classes, and I worked harder than I ever had just so I could pass my courses. Somehow, I managed to get respectable grades for the semester. The last two months of classes were absolutely miserable, however, since I was under enormous pressure to get perfect grades on everything.

Lesson learned: always do the assignments!!! If you do all the assignments, then there won't be surprises on exams, and you will get good grades.

Next year I look forward to being just as involved with FIRST, but with somewhat less of an ignorant attitute.

Patrick

im gonna be just as (more, if thats even possible) involved too, but i know myself well enough to know that ill neglect my school work again. of course, how many people can say that they neglect school work in order to spend more time doing physics/engineering/etc.? i think first is a good enough excuse to fall behind on youre work, though a lot of people (teachers particularly) would probably dissagree

hmm...
 

Why'd I join FIRST? Seriously, because it was this new club in my high school, and all my dorky friends were joining. I had no want to be an engineer, I didn't even think robotics would be all that much fun. I went to the first meeting, just because I had nothing better to do. And then, after the first meeting, I was in. It was something I wanted to be a part of. It looked like fun and it looked interesting.

I'm still doing it because I still think it's a lot of fun, and it's good experience. A lot of my fondest memories comes from FIRST.

I switched teams after I graduated high school. My old school didn't want alumni back, so I joined a team that I had a friend on. I wasn't willing to give up FIRST that easily. And if all goes well, Michael and I will be starting a new team come next season.

~Christina ºoº

No comment if you plan on telling my parents. ;) But seriously, between Fall and Winter quarter my grades didn't change at all. Although that should be qualified with the fact that I was doing a lot of administrative work during Fall quarter so I still didn't have that much free time but it was easier to put things off. The quarter that I was really hurting was spring quarter. Missing all the class for regionals and nationals took a toll on my grades. Then again I'm also of the opinion that burnout after a year of school and a year of FIRST didn't help too much either. Overall, I did fairly well, am keeping my scholarship, and am staying in the honors program so it's all good. :)

Matt

good job!
 

Wow, Matt... Can't believe you managed to keep your scholarship AND stay in the honor program at the same time... You are simply amazing. You've got to teach me how to do that. You are my hero!!!

Well, seriously though, FIRST does become a really really big part of your life if you CHOOSE to do it. Take me for example... I could've just quite when I was done with high school. I got to be head of machine shop and the driver of the robot, and I thought that was as high as I can get. But obliviously I refused to live with that position. I became person whose opinion actually matters, and people started to take me seriously... At least I hope that's the case...

Fortunately I gave myself a really easy schedule so that I could survive that semester. Getting good grades was out of the question, and I am just glad nothing bad really happened. College does require a lot of commitments into it if you want to do well, unlike senior year of high school where grades doesn't matter as much (because UC only look at grades 10th and 11th grade).

But Burning out after FIRST is THE fatal blow to grades... it wasn't the 6 weeks that hurt the most. It was as if the will of studying doesn't exist anymore, after giving up so much for production and competition.

Matt, I've got to ask you how you put yourself back together after competition! I think as long as we (college students) master the trick to do that, FIRST and College will actually be able to coexist with harmony...

Re: good job!
 

Now I'm someone's hero.....yeesh. ;) But seriously, there wasn't that much of a trick to it. I mean by this point I've gotten fairly used to not having time to do homework or study given this is my fourth year doing FIRST. It's all an issue of realizing which classes you can skip and which you can't. ;) Well, that's true actually. Go to the classes where you don't know the stuff. I was lucky and have gotten CS courses this year where I knew most of what was going on so it didn't require any additional studying in my own time. I also put in less time this year than I have in past years during construction (I was more administration....I never thought I'd ever end up this way....). We're also somewhat lucky at RIT that right after ship date are finals for winter quarter and right after that is Spring Break. Gives us a bit of time to recover. And as far as recovering from competitions goes, I don't know if I have yet so I'll get back to you on it. :) And I'm sure there are plenty of other college students who've done well while doing FIRST (I know of at least one -- my roommate next year). :)

Matt

Re: Re: good job!
 

Hmm...Matthew...you were luckier than me. I knew what classes I could and could not skip...unfortunately, I generally skipped both. :-) Didn't help that my physics midterm was while I was in Nationals, so my prof let me take it when I got back, but...I can't say I was studying physics down in Florida...at all. I put in less time this year, and somehow, my grades suffered, though I was able to save them on the finals. Man...I miss high school, I could miss weeks of high school, and be able to catch up, I miss day of class in college, and it seems like I missed the whole semester. Matthew...you are much better than me at that. Hopefully, I'll improve with time.

~Christina ºoº

Re: So you do FIRST..... Why?
 

I joined up in 8th grade('98), the debut year of the FLL, before it went totally national. Robots have always been of interest to me, and I'm looking for a career in robotic engineering.

I'm still doing it because FIRST is life. Enough said.

The other 2 don't apply to me.

Why do I do FIRST?
 

Someone by the name of Kate Leach joined forces with my brother and forced me to join my freshmen year, with a, you'll love it, you have no choice, but you get to go to Disney talk. I had gone to competitions before when they were still held in NH and thought it looked pretty cool, but never thought I'd ever be able to be on a team and do anything productive. My freshie year I did animation but really wanted to do more, as I learned more and more about the program I saw how great it was. Competition was the icing on the cake, I was amazed to see how huge it was and how excited people got at it. From that moment on I was in love with FIRST. It has been one of the greatest learning experiences in my life, it changed my mind about what I wanted to be when I grew up. From FIRST I have learned so many valuable lessons on life and such and thats why I love it so much and keep coming back!

My son "dragged me" when the robot was having an electrical problem at a regional. The Motorola engineers and teachers graciously accepted me into the team and my wife and I have been involved ever since. (That great t-shirt is what really keeps me coming back though.)
Being an adult on a team allows me to share my love of electronics and fixing things with others. The students are great and working, talking and meeting professionals from around the world is something you don't get to do on a regular basis. I feel that being part of this competition really helps me solve problems at work. It teaches the need to communicate and cooperate with others and to think that anything is possible, you just have to come up with a different idea.
My hat is off to the all the people who work so hard trying to come up with a successful game for us each year and those that put together all the stuff in the background. We never see them but we all benefit from their work.
AL