Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Whenever we start our season, I try to ask the people involved what they hope to get out of the program. I'm actually now evolving a survey so as to make the answers more uniform and to clarify the roles for the various constituencies. Answers have ranged from the purely selfish to the purely selfless.

Within the constraints of our facilities, skill levels, and available work hours, we try to accommodate as many people's desires as possible. This has helped us ensure that we have "satisfied customers" (which includes the engineers, teacher, external sponsors, high school administrations, ...).

I would be curious to hear from the broader community, why you are involved with FIRST.


Since I started this thread, I'll go first...

I am an engineer with too many years of education and not enough years of experience. My primary reasons for being involved are:
1. I like to design systems from the ground up.
2. I enjoy passing on skills which I have accumulated over many years to the next generation.
3. Participating in a Regional competition or Nationals is the most fun you can have without breaking the law.
4. I don't have enough stress in my life.

Andrew
Team 356

This is my first year on the robotics team and during all those stressful times, I too ask myself why I joined :) I guess its a little thing called supply and demand...actually there was a demand so I supplied. My team was in desperate need of organizational skills and the head of the robotics team (one of my friends) and the physics teacher knew my uncanny/OCD management skills so they recruited me and I bypassed the application process where 160 people tried out for 30 spots...that was kinda cool. A lot of my friends were also on the team and I thought I would finally find a class where I could learn to tolerate science (not a big science person at all). I also gave my dad that glimmer of hope that I would follow in his footsteps and become an engineer instead of wanting to become a lawyer. I've had so much fun with my team and definately got out more than I what I expected when I chose to join.

I joined because I wanted to learn. I love to build, and see things that I've worked on work. I guess that might fall under the title of "selfish reason", but what I have gotten out of it is much more rewarding.
I *have* learned, and I finally figured out where I could use all the Law of Sines and Cosines stuff, I learned how to solder, and wire a robot. I have experienced extreme exhaustion, man, all those times i was tired before, that was nothing. I have also grown as a person. All those times when everyone was tired, and hungry, and grumpy from 12 hours of building, we all had to realize that we were all in the same boat, and none of us had a right to criticize another. I learned about many of the people on my team, and have come to know them as my brothers and sisters, and they are now some of my closest friends. I have also learned that you can be competitive without being malicious, aka "gracious professionalism". I find it incredible to see the cooperation in the pits, and the way everyone collaborated to get the job done, and to see that there is a place where kids are recognized for their brilliance and aptitudes. My experience as a rookie on a second year team has been absolutely priceless, and has quite possibly changed the course of my life.
If FIRST is having this same or similar impact on everyone else, I can see where Dean Kamen is trying to take the world.

Stephanie
~who realizes that that was a longish-sortof-off-topic post...

i have quite an interesting story for how i got involved in FIRST. i had wanted to be a teacher for quite a while, so i was signed up to take a course in 11th grade called child care. i later found out that it was an all girls class and it involved a lot of girly things, which i'm just not into. i went to my guidance counselor to see what else i could take. my choices were cooking, sewing, and audio electronics. well, i found out that even though i was the only girl in the class, i was really good at electonics, and my teacher eventually asked me to join the robotics team, which i didn't even know existed. my schedule for this year includes hi-tech electronics, principles of engineering, and ap computer science. i fell in love with robots. now, i'm gonna be an engineer when i grow up. well, i'll never grow up, but you know what i mean...

kinda long story
 

In november of my 10th grade year, I strolled in a meeting and got caught up in a cart building discussion (even though we're still using the same one from 1st year), after that I became totally interested, then I started losing interest and thought about quiting, then kick-off came, after that, my life has never been the same. I thought that 6 weeks was just the funnest I had had all year, then I got to competition, I had a total blast, then after nationals when it was all over, I looked forward to my 11th grade year. My 11th grade year wasn't as fun as the year before, our robot didn't work as well, no team spirit, I put in too many hours and didn't like the outcome, but when I got to competition, I still felt good, and I just enjoy being around all of the people who are crazy about FIRST just like me. I learned a whole bunch and enjoyed being around people on the team. I also have no life and FIRST is just the best thing I could do. I consider it a blessing to be involved in FIRST and I don't know how I could survive high school without it. I have one more year with it before I go to college, I'm going enjoy every minute of it:D . I LOVE FIRST!!!!!!

Well... Keyspan, gave money to the Deer Park team and my Dad mentered them for three years. (he works for keyspan)Then i got to go with him to the comptitions.... I loved every minute of the compitition. Then when i found out West Islip was starting up a team i joined and my Dad helped my team.....i guess i wanted to see what my Dad had been working on with the Deer Park team. i really glad that my dad work with deer park or else i don't think i would have know about FIRST ... i love my robotics team and everything about First

My junior year of high school, our physics teacher got a bunch of info sent to him about FIRST since that was the first year the regional was in Richmond(my hometown). He asked his classes if we wanted to do it. We didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but we decided we wanted to do it. Not only that, we decided we wanted to go to both Regionals and Nationals. So we had a meeting afterschool to learn about what the competition was exactly. It was me, one other girl, and a bunch of guys at the meeting. The boys were goofing off and not getting anything done, so I went up to the board, and said, "Guys, I stayed afterschool today to get stuff done. Let's get something done." I led the discussion and we figured out what we had, what we needed, and where we could get some things (like funding). The next day, 2 of the senior guys decided that I should be the student leader of the team (we had decided we wanted to be a student led team, and we still are). So I became the head of the team for the next two years. And we pulled it off somehow. I wouldn't trade what I've learned and what memories I have from FIRST for anything in the world. I'm currently going through withdrawal since I've been at college, but I get to help out next year :cool:

My friend (who happened to be on the team last year) told me about it in our programming class. I thought this year, what the heck, I'll give it a try. I did and absolutely loved it. I only wish I knew about it sooner...

best way to say it
 

this reporter "ed me on this for the local paper, and i was kinda surprised at how smart it made me sound... but it goes something like this...
"It's a lot of fun ... like the idea of getting a challenge, thinking about it and then having the ability to make it."
and i think that covers all the grounds ness.

One of my friends recruited me for my Sophomore year. At the time, I only joined for the cool robot aspect. It seemed like something cool and a few of my friends decided to join too. Of course, someone in charge decided to stick me onto Animation, Chairmans', Woodie Flowers, amd every minor award available. I wasn't too happy with this because I had become THE 'goto' guy for everything that noone wanted to do. It was only after my first year that I actually read to Chairmans' criteria and was 'enlightened' to what FIRST was all about. And at the Maryland State Fair Tournment, I was the lead strategist, and I decided to do that ever since. Now, I'm on the team to make sure that it succeeds in every possible way that it can. Of course, it doesn't hurt your college resume either. But i wouldn't give up on FIRST for the world now.
~Hubicki~

My FIRST Expirence...........
 

Over the past three years of my life the FIRST program has changed and impacted my life. My freshman year there may have been 5 or 6 girls on my team who were not active members of the team, now three years later we have at least 12 girls that are active members. I've watched many people walk into the program and not know what the difference between a socket wrench and a screw driver was, to watching someone struggle and work hard and come out in the end with a full ride to Ohio State University.

Our team has been pleased with great engineers, teaching staff at our school, and very understanding paernts. Without all of the above people I don't think I personally would be in the program. The engineers pick on my in the pits and during the build process, the teaching staff just keeps tossing things my way and expecting me to accomplish them, and my parents who laugh everytime they ask me what I have going on that night. The engineers however have bridged that gap between professional andbeing able to have a good time. They come out and play football, everyone lives at T. Hoffman's house, and don't forget those paintball matches.

I was asked to answer this question in school the other day.....
How have you been affected by the program...... (my responce)

The people that I have meet and the places I've been have been great expirences for me, but nothing can replace the knowledge, guidence, and life lessons I will take with me. This program reminds me of a person it walkes into your life with grace and leaves leaving imprints that have helped mold who and what you are about to become. Thie program is the best thing that has ever walked into my life............

Simply Put......




FIRST IS LIFE

ITS FUN!

because I am a sucker
 

If I did not moderate our FIRST team there would not be a FIRST team. And I could not do that to all the kids who really wanted to be a part of a team. My son was on the team some years ago as a freshman and I was always upset that there was not a team for him as he continued in high school.

I love the program and I love the kids but I'm not sure I'm up to doing this over the long haul. Maybe I'll feel better after summer vacation. I'm still catching up on sleep.

Why FIRST?
 

Re: Why are you involved in FIRST?

Great posting- here is my contribution...

Purity selfish reasons: My three kids think I'm the coolest-robot-building dad in the whole world. My kids are popular in their classroom because "My dad build robots for FIRST LEGO and FIRST Robotics and yours don't." (Unkowns to them, I'm brain washing them into the world of technology and engineering, ha, ha, ha, ha....)

Purity selfless reasons: if there was a FIRST Robotics-like Programs back back when I was in high school, my potential would be boundless. These FIRST programs, in my opinion, is so valuable in drawing students into the technology all high schools should look into it. I got into engineering because of the space program that was going on when I was in school. It was an exciting time in history. Today everything is high-tech but as consumers not dreamers.

Anyway, my top 10 reasons for getting involved in FIRST:

1. I would like to share my 20 years of engineering experiences with worthy people.
2. The students are wonderful open-minded learner.
3. I would like to give back the the public school system in NYC.
4. I want to make a difference by contributing to the educational system.
5. This country needs more engineerings. We have a serious shortage.
6. Designing and building robots are fun.
7. After managing 15 students in a six week project, anything at the job is a piece of cake.
8. The FIRST competition challenges adds spices to life.
9. Donuts, Pizza, and soda all day on Saturday
10. Students actually think I know something.

:)

I got into FIRST because of a tape. In 1996 my boss got a tape of the competition and showed it at a department meeting. She said that if one of the teachers wanted to pursue it the school would support us (kindof- no $). I bit and we were off. Randy Schaeffer of the NJ Regional hooked us up with BMS and at least we had some funding.

sorry- hit the button-

Anyway, after three years of building wooden, electronic nightmare robots in our half furnished wood shop we ended the 1999 season with $68 in the bank and I was ready to quit. Our team had the wrong attitude those days, too negative, and the "fun" which was supposed to be FIRST kept getting squashed out when we competed and fell apart on the field.

When the 2000 season began almost 100 kids came out for the team. They had waited since they were in 7th grade to be there, having seen our robots in one of the demos we gave to the younger kids. So I decided to give it one more shot for the kids sake.

Our entire team changed the day after the kickoff in January 2000 when our new BMS contact Kevin showed up with a mentor team of 6 tradesmen, something we never really had before. The kids had the ideas for playing the game, the adults had the knowhow to execute them. And we had $68 to kill....

2000 was the year we won big. I still call it a miracle. I guess I'm hooked on this crazy game from now on.

WC

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this kind of experience. After the 2000 season (our rookie year) I had no intention of coming back. It was a total, exhausting, frustrating nightmare.

However, in October 2001, our one returning high school team member requested that we try again. This one thing changed my mind and encouraged me to give it another go.

So, my number one reason for being involved in FIRST would have to be:
1. High school and college students who actually want to learn something and are willing to put in a little time to try.

Andrew
Team 356

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

So I am back... yet again... I think FIRST is a Cult, thats why I am here!! JK! Here is my story:

10th grade(1995!): FIRST came to our high school, I always liked science & tech, so a friend of mine and I joined for the 1996 season... (now team 176)
College(1998): Did not want to leave FIRST, so had to find a college with a team... but I thought it would be even better to find a school in which I could start one, and affect even more kids! So I went to Clarkson University, and as the only ex=FIRSTer, I started the team for the 1999 season(team 229). Also volunteered at a bunch of the competitions doing inspections and the like.
Off to Work(2003): I left FIRST behind at Clarkson to take a job at Harris Corporation in Rochester NY, but kicked around the idea of starting up a third team... I gave that up about a month before a Penfield HS parent approached me, her oldest daughter was on the Clarkson team and gotten my name(I think from Eric O'Brien!), her two youngest were still in HS and she wanted to start a team... So I am doing it yet again!!!

Anyways, I guess I needed that little story to expain why I am involved. In HS, I really fell in love with FIRST and its mission. I was inspired to become an electrical engineer myself, but even more, I loved seeing how much it affected others and the excitement behind it, behind something so acheivable (not like becoming a prosports player). So my whole mission on the college team was to see if I could affect just one student as much as I had been affected... just one. Well there were probably at least 10 in the first year!! Now, being asked to start another team, despite all the work it is going to be, I couldnt pass up the opportunity to affect more kids. I love the inspiration in people's eyes when they learn something for the first time, or see one of the huge competitions for the first time... Its addictive :)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined FIRST 3 years ago... this is my 4th year... i lived through FIRST for 3 years and now i am a point where i cant get myselft out of it. Just not enjoying the team work, i also met a lot of people in FIRST who i can call my friends. Engineers, mentors (not just from my team) always helped me out when i needed help. The experience that i have gained from FIRST is not explanable in words. and just like someone pointed out in this thread... simply put...

FIRST IS LIFE... :)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I was a sophomore at Enfield High, in Enfield, Connecticut and heard about the robotics program at Fermi High School, #175 Buzz Robotics. I was a huge nerd in high school and thought it would be a good idea. The first year I was too young to drive so my grandfather would drive me to the other side of town so I could work on the robot. I was the only person on the team who wrote software and all the engineers cautiously loved me. They knew that if I wasn’t there and they needed a software change things could get ugly. So we adopted a “if you get hit by a bus” plan, in which I carefully explained the software to one of the electrical engineers, Rich Desjean. He definitely could have stepped in and taken over for me, but I think he just wanted me to feel special. The first year was also where I got my nickname Dubes.

My second year I convinced more Enfield High people to join. I think this is the year that Erin Rapacki joined. It is definitely the year that Aidan Browne joined. He also moved into a house 2 down from mine.

The third year, my senior year, was when I really learned why Aidan Browne was a special person. Basically, it was late fall and I wasn’t doing too hot in school and I hadn’t started applying to colleges. We had a life changing talk one night at his house. A “what the hell are you doing?” type of chat. That got me motivated to start applying and I got into most of the schools I applied and ended up at the Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.

My sophomore year at Wentworth was when I started back up in FIRST. Erin Rapacki just started at Northeastern and told me about their team. I showed up to one of the meetings and the rest is history. I became one of the top “engineers” on the team and I might end up working at the sponsor, Textron Systems, some day.

This year will mark my 6th year of being involved with FIRST, and I made it to my senior year of computer engineering tech at Wentworth. In high school, robotics was a great way to let out the geek in me. Now as a college mentor, I see myself in some of the high school kids. Of course, robotics is just as fun as in high school. However, it also gives me a chance to give back to the Hamilton engineers that mentored me into the engineering field. When I work 1 on 1 with a high school student it often reminds me of the talk that Aidan and I had that fall night. Perhaps, I can change a high school students life as Aidan did for me, at best I could try.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Good thread!
Well, I joined because I figured, since I was very into technology and learning, I would make new friends and really get a good experience from it. Not only would it have been amazing for me, but also to be able to make it memorable for others. Helping them when they need it during building season, sharing tips and experiences, or just simply working together. I learned so much from Robotics, and I don't think I would step out. The experience is overall beneficial for everyone, not just yourself. And you make it a great experience for others as well, even if you don't know it. That's the beauty of FIRST.
--Dori

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

originally I got into the program cause I heard we got three days excused from school (pretty bad, right?) neways after my first regional I was absolutely hooked.....i probably wouldn't be nearly as motivated to go to college and a lot of other things....I owe a ton to FIRST and saw what the experience did for me.....

now im just hopin that I can do the same thing for some students....i may feel burned out from time to time, but I can't stop coming back for more....the fun i have, and the excitement I see in the students keeps me coming back even though i get frustrated at times....

basically i got into it for all the wrong reasons, but i got lucky and stumbled onto something that changed my life forever

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Initially, I joined to compete. It is a thrill to try to design something better than someone else. I was a jock as a younger guy, and I truly believe in the basics of competition. This combination of design skill and sports-like competition drew me in.

With that said, I have stayed in FIRST because of the mentoring, not the competition. Not only do I make an impact as a mentor, but I also learn much from people who mentor me. Sometimes, these mentors are engineers and teachers who I admire, while in other cases they are students who teach me things.

I've tried many activities and had many hobbies, but I am proud to say that I have given them up for FIRST. These hobbies were fun, but had only self-serving satisfactions. I don't regret doing them, but I like the choices I have made to stay involved in FIRST.

Andy B.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I'm embarrassed to say that I joined the FIRST team at my school because my friends were in it and they bugged my to join. We have this thing at our school where on the first day of school for freshmen, all the clubs have some reps in the gym and the freshmen go around and sign up for stuff and as questions about clubs and what not. So, when I was a freshmen the robotics team was driving the robot from the last year around in the gym and, ironically, I said to myself, "I am never joining that club. It's a nerd club." That coming from the team leader of my team from 03-04. :rolleyes: But I was definitely plesantly surprised and I'm grateful for those friends who made me join. And the reason I stayed in FIRST is obvious, it's awesome!

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

the Reason i am involved in FIRST is my brother and my father. another reason i am involved is that FIRST is more fun then any sporting event out there.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Why am I involved in first? Because its the funnest thing ever! I heard about FIRST through some of the kids that I knew from scouts, not to mention I had seen some of our demonstrations at the board of ed meetings. So, it was at College/Career night at our school this year when one of my neighbors told me "if I was still interested in FIRST" that we had a meeting on Wednesday from 5-8. I was also told that we were keeping enrollment from freshman this year small. So I went to the first meeting, signed up for controls, and the rest is history. Our meetings start again in about two weeks, and I absolutely can't wait!

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Im involved because its theonly thing at school thats fun and educational at the same time haha you meet tons of new people, and its something you really cant get sick of. its liek an addiction really. even when i wasnt on the team and i would go to nationals and all the regionals with my sister, i would have a blast.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

To be honest, when I saw that District Five was starting its "FIRST Robotics Team," I thought FIRST was capitalized for emphasis and we were doing Battlebots IQ or something like that.

But once I figured out what everything really was, I'd say the reason I do FIRST is that it's just plain fun. The matches, the people, shoot, just milling around the pits is an enjoyable thing.

That, and I enjoy being tackled by robots in autonomous mode.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

My freshman year (1998-1999) I heard an morning announcement. Something like: "Are you interested in mechanics, R/C cars, electronics, PC animation, accounting, photography and video? Then come to the RAGE robotics team informational meeting at 2pm in the library."
I was always taking things apart at home, and trying to build new things. Always sitting in my room surrounded by Legos. Electronics and R/C cars sounded fun so I decided to give it a try. When I got to the meeting, there were a couple of kids driving this HUGE thing picking up giant balls (1998 game). It was the coolest thing I had seen in my life, so I stayed, they let me drive it and I was hooked.

I am back now as a college mentor to try and pass on what I learned. That's the great thing about this program. Once your interested, with piratically no age limit, you can be involved for the rest of your life, and you probably will be.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I became involved in FIRST because of:

a) A mistake;
b) A Grasshopper;
c) Good manners;
d) Dave Beck.

The mistake: When my daughter joined Cybersonics her freshman year, I purposely stayed away - to let her find her place and have fun without me being around. That wasn't a mistake, but going to the J&J regional that year was. At least it was a good one!

The Grasshopper: I had just sat down in my seat in the upper deck of the College Ave gym as a match started. When Grasshopper came off the wall and went down the side of the field and scooped up every ball in the line, the whole house jumped to their feet cheering. I'm not sure which impressed me more: the robot or the "gracious professionalism" shown by competitors screaming their heads off for its performance.

Good manners: I was not prepared for what I saw when I went into the student center for lunch with members of 30-odd teams and their fans. I was expecting it to be like it would if it had been 30 (or even three) basketball teams. Those FIRST kids were actually polite! There was plenty of rivalry, but all good-natured. And no four-letter words. It was as if everyone saw themselves as part of a really huge family. Like they really wanted to be there. How cool is that?

Dave Beck: Dave likes to fish - not just for trout, either. He knows what kind of bait to use and, once he gets a nibble, just how to hook them and reel them in. His bait: high school robotics. The hook: students - 35 at Palisades HS (and thousands more around the world). He gave me just enough encouragement and pulled just hard enough to let me get myself thoroughly hooked on FIRST. I didn't stand a chance.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

year-round tennis was starting to wear on me (i've cut back to only 3 consecutive seasons ;) ) and i had heard loads about it from they guys that i had been in science classes with for the past 2 years

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined because both of my older sisters joined. Ever since i was really little my oldest sister has been my role model. She's the reason I'm playing trumpet now. But after one of her competitions (i believe the first one she went to) she came home saying how amazing it was and what-not. Since my parents both worked, and robotics was late, my younger sister and i would go with my mom to pick her up (this was lexie year). but we would go inside and see how helpful elizabeth was and how much she enjoyed it, and every once in a while we would have to go to the pit with her because my dad was out of town and my mom was working late and she was our only ride, so i would go and play with the bouncy balls. Then teresa joined, and she wouldn't tell us anything about it, but i saw all the dorky necklaces and other things she brought home.
so then i joined, i met a bunch of people, was told to sweep a lot, didn't do a whole lot on building the robot the first year, but i helped a lot with the crate and our cart. then, at regionals, i was on pit crew, and that just blew my mind. i had soo much fun there. and then, of course, sophomore year, i "met" (made friends with i guess is more what it should be called) my famous pit buddy, tiff. i did a lot on the robot and still had a super fun time.
Then, i got the date for robot rodeo, and realized that the date didn't conflict with band, like it had in the past, and i was super excited. then i got my cross country schedule and found out that robot rodeo is the same day as districts. so i quit cross country. now i'm going to be a mentor on a FLL team, and i went to our girls camp over the summer, and i'm vice president (along with britt) of our the south florida chapter of the RCU, and i'm finding more and more that robotics is life. I mean, i used to say that, but now i really know that full meaning of it. I can't wait until Robot Rodeo!!! or kickoff! or regionals!!! or nationals!!!!!! this year is gonna be great!

(sorry, that was kinda long, but i really meant it)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

because its my anti-drug?

Actually I don't really know specifically why I joined FIRST, probably the fact of building robots and such. But I can say that I haven't regretted a single second so far.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

My sister told me all the geeks were in the Robotics Club. :D I was there so fast you wouldn't believe.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I had heard about FIRST for many years since I worked for the UTC division that sponsors RAGE. When my son was in 8th grade we attended the UTC Regional and were blown away by the excitement. My husband and I attended his first team meeting as a freshman and have only missed one or two meetings since (much to my son's dismay).

Once I saw the positive effect the program has on students who might otherwise not be a part of anything in high school, I was hooked.

My goal this past year was to increase communications to parents, school administrators and town officials and I believe I have accomplished that.
My goal this year is to further advertise NEMO (non-engineering mentor organization) to FIRST team mentors and to organize workshops on FIRST team non-engineering topics at regional competitions.

Re: Why FIRST?
 

Ever since I can remember, I've always tried "inventing" or engineering new things using whatever there was available. Then when I was about 10 or so my family got it's first computer, and I found out that I could "invent" (program) stuff on the computer without any limitation of physical materials. This is just taking a step up from making things on a computer run, to making things on a physical object run... via a computer.

Basically: engineering is fun.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Me and my friends got kinda sick of our Halo LAN parties so we started the FIRST robotics club thing at my school. Its my engineering independent study now, too. So I get to screw around with the robot for like 2 hours during school and get high school credit for it. Its a pretty good deal if you ask me... Plus my instructor is also my team mentor so he usually grades me generously :)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I got involved in FIRST from my lead mentor Dave Buddenbohn. I took his class for 7 weeks in an exploratory program, he saw my interest in Engineering and asked me to come to one of the Robotics meetings. So I joined at the end of the teams rookie season and since then have become the leader of the team. I think i have stayed interested because the opportunities given to me through FIRST, from meeting interesting intelligent people, learning about Engineering and Gracious professionalism, to the career and education possibilities through sponsors and scholarships. FIRST has given me a reason and directing to go to college and further my education.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined FIRST purely for the knowledge and friendships i could and have gained from the experiences. i am now only a high school sophomore but i feel i have grown so much from the positive experience that is FIRST. I am now part of drive team/pit crew and last year i was on pit crew. i have learned so much and i still have two years of high school left. I will probably also join a team in college (I'm still not sure if i can stand 8 years on 229 :D and i know i won't be able to spend college in Potsdam, New York :cool: )

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I just want to give-back to a program that gave so much to me (in every way). Note testimonial in this thread:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...+test imonial

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

originally i joined because i had to do an activity "outside school "(school policy, they called it enrichment, and every wednesday afternoon is off for it)
but now i am staying for most of the reasons mentioned above.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I originally joined FIRST when I was first introduced to the program when mentors and students from team 365 (MOE) put on a demonstration at my high school.... some 20 miles away from their home base. The team was looking for prospective members for their 2003 season. I had already known that I wanted to go into robotics, so I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about the field, and play with futuristic machines in a national competition.

I soon found out that FIRST was about so much more than building a machine. After going to many meetings, the build season started, and I was bombarded with slogans like gracious professionalism, of which i though I understood. The build season came to an end and our bot was shipped away in a crate. This almost made me cry. I had grown so attached to this thing that I had poured my heart and soul into for 6 short weeks. I have never felt such a sense of accomplishment in my life as the day that bot finally worked. This feeling of pride emitted itself from my being weeks after the competition season ended.

I'm overlapping here... Annapolis regional in 2003 was not my first competition experience, as I had traveled to several off-season competitions with the 2002 bot, however the scale of this event was unimaginable to me. Almost 70 teams from all over the place were assembled with the projects that they too had poured their heart and soul into. After a few matches pass during the practice day, I see a bot start letting out its magic smoke on the field. One of my team's mentors immediately sent all but one person from my pit crew over to see if there was anything we could do to help. I was thinking... "wait a second... isn't this a competition?.... don't we do better if they do worse?" I followed the pit crew over and saw the burnt robot being worked on by people from at least 4 different teams. Finally, I was introduced to the true meaning of Gracious Professionalism. It didn't matter if they were going to eventually be competing against our team. All that mattered was for them to get the same experience and fun out of the competition that we had. This is why I will probably be involved in FIRST until the day I die.

With all that said (sorry for being so long winded), I am in FIRST because it is one of the very few competitions in which teams are willing to help their opponents, to the extent that they may be sacrificing a win, or even a championship.



P.S. I do like to mentor high school students as well, but that's not what originally grabbed my attention.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

We have to choose an activity to study which isn't on the standard school curriculum as part of our school course. So I heard word that the school had a Robotics team, and set out to find out more. Liked what I heard n' saw when I got there, so I jumped straight in and joined. :)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Eight years ago, a "wild man" from General Motors came to our high school with the idea of creating a robotics club. After listening to this man for about 4 minutes, I was hooked. Mike Rush, Arizona Woody Flowers Award Winner, thank you!

Ken

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

A friend of mine, who's a year older than me, was on the school's robotics team his freshman year. My freshman year (this year), he persuaded me into joining.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

My sister was in it from 1998 (99ish) to 2002 and i would go to liek all comps and nats and i loved it. so i joined when i got in high school. i also like doing hand on things liek building and stuff. and you also meet alot of cool people and stuff

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

For solely selfish reasons that end up being noble.
I initially joined for the opportunity to do animation. Then I became hopelessly hooked on the program and it's my favorite hobby and it serves as an opportunity to inspire lots of kids in positive ways and is a great tool with the potential to light the way to wards the future for the African-American community where there were few.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

While sitting at work yesterday I got to thinking, those of you who know me know that doesn't happen often, but I thought and thought about my high school experience.
Most of you knwo I am involved in to many things for my own good, and thinking back I looked at the many things that I am now an "alumni of" and most of them are organizations that I will never join again becuase they are only for high school students. Then I realized something.
I saw how amazing FIRST really is. Look around at these forums, look at the generations that span their pages, look at all the contacts you have met, and then see that you will meet them again. It isn't like Student council where you will see each other once every 5 years at some cheezy picnic in the back of your school, it is a community of people who you get to see multiple times a year. That's whats great, you are never an alumni of FIRST, you can always be there, mentoring, learning, creating.
So as the class of 2006 turns their team position from "student/driver/communications/etc." to "alumni" remember that you are just an alumni of your team for the time being.
I am still involved in FIRST, and I always will be, let's face it... FIRST Rocks!

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Simple. It's all about the people.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

For me, it started because of the robots. But now, it is all about the people you meet, the friends you make, the great times you have, the excitement of the competition, the adrenaline of the eliminations, the Dew to be drunk, the sights to be seen, and the general awesomeness of FIRST that keeps me involved. (In addition to the robots, of course. ;))

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

(why not?)

I was more or less forced by my school to be involved in the FLL pilot. I enjoyed it and did it again for a few years.
During that time my brothers were on the HOT team and my dad was a mentor.
I guess I felt I had to when I got to high school.
I got pulled into OCCRA by one of my friends my freshman year, and robotics hasn't stopped since!
I just love it - the people, the experience, the learning, the thrill, the team... it's just amazing

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

The same as a lot of other people!

I love to learn new things and to be involved in the student education process. It is an honor to be involved with the program and wish I had a team at my high school when I was younger.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Quite honestly, I joined this year because last year, my freshman year, a couple of my friends were in it and they told me how much fun I would have if I joined. I didn't know I could still join then, but my sophomore year I joined and let me tell you, I've never been the same. FIRST is so wonderful, it embodies many personal beliefs of mine (such as the wonderfulness of gracious professionalism and the idea that kids today focus too much on pop culture). Also, it gave me the self confidence to show who I really am and not care what anyone thinks of me, because, after competitions and build season, I realized that people would still like me and I'd have a lot more fun if I would stop pretending to be quiet in school and just... be my crazy self. The feeling you get when you see 6 weeks of hard work, stress, and frustration pull together and become a working robot is the most amazing feeling I have ever felt. Pathetic as this may sound, one of my deepest wishes is that I had joined robotics last year, the program is that dear to me now.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

My math teacher told me to :P
Plus I met a few people from our robotics team at LEGO camp.

OH I totally forgot in 2001 I was at the high school for one of my sisters shows and the robotics team we doing a demonstration.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined because...my mom was friends with someone whose son is on the team, and he was talking to me about it one day. It seemed like an interesting thing to do. Also, in 2000, I participated in Invent America, which was held at our high school. They had our team do a presentation. I was amazed at the robot. I've always been a bit of an odd person, but after my first robotics meeting, I knew I'd fit in just fine with the other kids on the team. :)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Thats where it was at invent America. I couldn't remember exactly where it was, I just assumed it was at one of my sisters plays because that was one of the only reasons I went to the high school.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined because... Alexa (AtalanteStar25)^, and my friend, Mike Ciance's little sister, wanted me to join with them. Also, I never really got interested in sports/played on a sports team, and the robotix team seemed suit my interests pefectly. :) And I've been hooked since.
All of the different people, the robots, the atmosphere of a FIRST competition, and all the things that can be learned, and just the overall experience - nothing compares to FIRST.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

The reason I joined was kinda well a long processes. It started out in the middle of my sophmore year. My technical class teacher (i got to a tech school so we're in there 1/2 the day) was like "Who wants to join the robotics team". I wanted to but my mom didn't feel like driving me (tech school was 45 min from house..well still is but yeah). So my friends who did join eventually left that year but before they left they we're like "You should come aboard just to do the website". I still couldn't go. In the mean time I looked into what FIRST really was and started looking at other teams to get an idea for what I was in for.

Then my junior year came around and my ex was like "I'll drive you home from your first meeting" so that happend, and my mom has been driving me back and forth. And guess what...I do the website :). So my orginal reason to be recruited has happend. I find it kinda cool.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

ehm ehm
To be friends with all the top minds and techy people, so i can create my base and RULE THE WORLD! :p


Every happy ending needs a bright beginning. That 'beginning' is FIRST for me.
:)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

This summer, I had the opportunity to teach robotics to a group of 16 middle school girls. After I had given them my lessons, they really sought to engage with the programming and the mechanics of their robot, in the process learning how to collaborate with others and overcome their fears of asking questions.

I started as a high school student because I had an interest in math and science... But I continued as an FRC/FLL mentor in college because, for me, it was definitely worth it to leave a meeting every day seeing students enthusiastic and brimming from ear to ear about what they had learned from me through the day.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

the big picture:
I want to stay and see how big this picture is going to get.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

To be honest, Im just in it for the money!

Ive been involved with FIRST for 9 years. The checks should start coming in any day now :^)

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Because I believe in what this program teaches the students and how science and engineering can affect our lives. Also because there is a lot of cool people ( meaning CD members) that are in it.

DANCE TO THE MUSIC!!!!

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

One word: "children". If my oldest hadn't gotten the word about FIRST, I probably wouldn't be here. Of course, the younger one was right there at the time (seventh grade) and has been on the team ever since. I've become the mentor for the drivetrain. Though not fancy, we've never had a single drivetrain failure in five years of competition (knock on wood). This year, the Team won a Motorola Quality Award at the VCU regional in Richmond, VA.

I hate going to meetings, but I love building stuff. There's nothing like getting it all together at the 11th hour and making a good showing at a regional competiton. And when it's over, the comraderie is just great. This year, our team had it's first engineer ( the team's co-founder) graduate from VCU, with honors. That makes it all worthwhile!

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

Well one of the reasons I joined FIRST was because I wanted to try something new and it sounded like something that would be fun to do. When I went into the program I was shy and knew nothing about machines. Three years later I have gained more confidence in myself along with having friends. Also I have learned machining skills along with CNC machining, and become the build team captain for two of the three years I was on the team.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I joined the team because I had nothing better to do. I stayed on because it changed my outlook on my future and actually changed my personality, and because I love nothing more.

Okay, list of reasons:

* I've discovered that strategizing is a passion of mine, and what could be better than getting a new game to strategize about each year?
* I've made more friends from robotics than anything else, ever. I love interacting with new people and making friends.
* I want to go into a career similar to what I get to do during the season, so I figure this is the best practice I'm going to get in high school.
* (Since this asks about FIRST in general and not just the high school competition...) I love watching kids figure things out on their own and seeing them realize they've done something by themselves and have accomplished something. For them to do that, sometimes they need skills I can (maybe) help them learn.
* I want to be a mentor when I'm older so I can help inspire the next group of FIRST students like I've been inspired.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

my sis was on the team and basically forced me to join this past year as a freshman now shes gone( she was a senior) but im here to stay!:D

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

It is the only program at my high school that is engineering oriented, and allows me to use my mechanical skills.

Re: Why are YOU involved in FIRST?
 

I am a geek and proud of it. I started in middle school and the first year i was in it (FLL) I was in awe. That was it, I'm here to stay!

:D