Oh no! not the mushy stuff!

What on earth was the point of that?

Anyway, FIRST has introduced me to a lot of new people and I've made several friends along the way. The season was great but even when it's over I've got friends I can hang out with and just have fun. Of course we are doing so by working on a Segway clone, but hey shows our dedication, we do normal stuff too. It's definately had a big impact on my life.

I've actually met a lot of people thru robotics, but I've met a bunch thru this site too!!! I think that whoever said that thing about us all going thru that whole long 6 week build process thing was right. I know that on my team, for some reason, one of our biggest and first real bonding times was when the space shuttle catastrophy happened. I know that the way that I will personally remember it for my entire life is sitting in the lunch room at the GM Proving Grounds with my entire team staring at the television, trying to process what had just happened. That was the first real way that I got friends thru first was thru my own team. After that, I realized that there were a lot of other kids out there who were all a lot like us (went thru the whole build and competition thing and all) and i started talking to a bunch of them. I was so talkative that the mentors sent me out for the sole purpose of talking to people, and collecting buttons. So I met quite a few people that way. Overall, I've met a lot of people thru first, and all I can say is that I'm really glad that I decided to join.:D

Between FIRST and FIRST Camps ive met more people that ive made lasting friendships with than i have in the past 17 years that ive been alive. Without FIRST i would never have met my boyfriend or know most of the people i know. some of the people that i am friends with now i wouldnt be friends with without FIRST because we just would have hung with different crowds but now i couldnt imagine not having them there to hang with or something cause their just awesome people. some of the most exciting people i know i only know because they are/were our engineers for our team. i remember Fresman year we had one of the funniest guys as our Animation engineer and whenever we would hold meetings he would just make them so much more interesting. He helped me feel like i fit in on this team so much more than i would have just because of his attitude. I am so glad i joined FIRST not only for the amout of fun it is but for the amount of great people i have meet through the program. I am always telling my friends about this kid or that kid that ive meet through FIRST. The friendships that ive made through FIRST i hope will be ones that dont break ever.

Many friends on FIRST.

Not just from my team, but from others.

My team: Matt, Amminder, Meyur, and that's about it I think.....:D

Others:
Kelsy - team 384
Jim - team 384
team 384's one mentor (dunno who, but he knows, I talked to him about everytime I went to their pits :D) - team 384
Shruti - team 25
Arwen (aim name) - unsure
A girl from team 25 (never got her name) - team 25

a few others I can't think of right now.

FIRST Rocks!!!!!!! w00t

[Edit: As of right now, I have 59 FIRST Members on my AIM Buddy List, and 1 on my ICQ List]

I LOVE FIRST. I've met sooo many people, some in really random ways.

And FIRST people don't find me really random when I'll randomly start talking to them.. for seemingly no reason.

And I definitly like to talk :D

I meet people like MATT KRASS who IS MY FRIEND. ;) LOL

Everybody finds you really random ;)

Now would you get rid of those banners? It's creepy...
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TEACUPS! (inside joke)


^^^ The above would be one of my crazier friends I've met in FIRST.

Matt Matt Matt. I am by far your craziest friend met thru first and you were lucky enough to not be on the team the same time i was on the team god knows what i would of done to you in the random sence

Being on a first team for me, tends to at least break down some of the traditional barriers of what year of high school you are in. Face it for me, the majority of time spent hanging in around breaks at school or off it is with friends in my grade, obviously because you spend the most time with them. But joining robotics gives you a chance to spend a huge amount of time with people from all over the school and grades that you wouldnt normally meet. I suppose you could say that this situation is the same for all teams or clubs, but robotics gives the added kick of such a large amount of time concentrated into one period. You see them at their creative best, hardest working, laziest period and all middle ground in between.

Rookie-ing it up this first year, i stuck mostly by my team, but next year im definitely looking forward to meeting new people from new teams. = )

I've met a lot of people through FIRST and this website. How can I tell this, you ask?? Well there's a FIRST Robotics Members section on my buddy list, that's how :D
But anyways, I've met a lot of people on a lot of teams all over. If it wasn't for FIRST (and chiefdelphi.com) I wouldn't have some of the good friends I have now :) Thanks FIRST!!

Oh yeah! I want more friends! So IM me peoples :)

Realy, I have 144 buddies from 39 teams on my buddylist

without robtoicsi woudl have had zero social life
 

not only i am freinds with people on my awesome team but also people from our teams mentees: team 1072 and 1043.

not only i got to leanr from people my age but also from the hardworking advisors and teachers.

oh yeah, feel free to IM me. haha

I kind of realized that I never even replied to my own question, and that kind of upset me. There are many people to whom my team and myself owe great thanks and whom were a great pillar of strength this season alone. FIRST has always been less than just a school activity for me and more of a way of everyday life.

FIRST is unlike every other organization or every other robot competition because it begs to you collaborate; it encourages you to be a better person through the help of others.

As Amanda said, "FIRST is unlike any other organization". Through FIRST, i have met so many people i can not name them all or even start to name them... On my buddy list i have 56 FIRST related people, whom i can give their name off when told their screen name. Though FIRST has also let me meet people i never thought i would have, or go places where i am or have gone... FIRST in my eyes has opened me to a whole new road, in these past 3 years. See you all in 5 days at IRI!
~Mike