Re: aw, these moments are going to make me cry...
 

Amazing! We were working on the program, that means, trying to understand what Mr. Gregory was doing and explaining us, while the staff kept on the mic: "In 10 minutes we're closing the building..." wow. It was great, and it worked! We couldn't have won the rookie all-star without you guys, I mean it, for sure it's half yours! :D

I'm proud of my team coming back from the brink of disaster to win the J&J regional. Back in September, our team was in disarray. With no advisor due to district restructuring, we had no leadership. As support from the school dwindled, the students rose up to the challenge. They showed Someville High School, the Parents Group, and the adminstration that we wanted to survive, no matter how many hurdles they threw in our path. Despite losing funding and overall support, the team moved on completely on its own and was not only able to build a robot, but one that would ultimately win the Regional (and would have been a great contender at Nationals). When everyone said it couldn't be done, when everyone counted us out, our team survived and did what eveyone else said couldn't be done. I'm proud of that.

Re: Re: aw, these moments are going to make me cry...
 

Heh, and then they walked over to us and said "cmon guys, you've gotta go". That was great. As I said in another post, I really enjoyed working with your team. You are a class act all the way! Keep it going, we want to see you again next year!

As for my proud moments:

I was proud of how our team worked hard to make money for our program (as they will be doing this weekend). They wanted this program badly, and they were willing to do whatever it took to get it.

I was very proud of how well my team worked together at J&J. We're new to this, but it was great to see our team pull together to try to embody what this was all about. Helping other teams, high-fiving our partners, handing out giveaways. These kids wanted to be there, they wanted to do this. So exciting to see them embody gracious professionalism.

Making it to the semifinal round in competition, and the team not being angry that we lost to our mentors (25). We knew we weren't going to win that fight, but we wanted to put a strong showing in. We were proud of our work, and were satisfied with where we made it.

During the time of nats, my team was home, and we were displaying our robot during the district curriculum expo. We had a NJ State senator and Asst. Commisioner of education come and observe us on our demonstration and take a photo with us (attached). I felt that we tried to make FIRST a little more well-known...

After the fact, I was commended by the Assistant Superintendent of C&I for our district for having students be so excited about this project. She (pictured) had said that she had never seen students this excited about applications of academics before, and that I should be proud of myself and them.

And man, was I ever....

Our robot's performance, how the team came together and grew, all the things I learned, and our Regional Chairman's Award. Sure I am proud of all these things, but overall and mostly, I am proud to be a part of FIRST Robotics. Without this program, I wouldn't have anything to be proud about and it has truly changed my life. Thank You FIRST.