Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

I've tried to write this 3 times today and maybe the 4th time is the charm. If you are new to the Championship event in Atlanta or even a veteran, take the time to look around you. The escalators are the perfect place to take a moment and just let everything soak in. You will be busy, and at some point, tired - but be open to wonderful memories. Take a page from the book of Andy Baker wisdom and ask people: where are you from? That may be the start of some great interactions/stories shared. Travel safe, compete well, enjoy the journey, and rock the Dome. :)
Jane

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. I leave at 11:20 tomorrow. Our teams first time too.

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

We leave at 6 PM tomorrow:(

Other than that, and a disection in school tomorrow, I will probably be bouncing off the walls in school tomorrow. (Just like I'm about too now).

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

We are leaving at 4:30AM tomorrow morning... i am not going to get much sleep tonight

Good luck all FIRST teams!!

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was turn on the webcast (before it had even started). THEN, I got ready to go to my classes. After lunch, I skipped the rest of my classes to watch and then didn't even leave my computer until dinner... Tomorrow (later today, I suppose), I'll still be waking up early, go to my chem lab, then come back BEFORE opening cermoney!

I WISH I WERE IN ATLANTA RIGHT NOW!!!!:]

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

after the first day of nationals, i'm sooooo excited for the actual competition days!!! its going to be soooo awsome! plus, most of our team has never been to atlanta before, everything is just awesome!!! *we're finally off the rock...again*

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

Yeah, it's not that big of a deal to call it Nationals people. Championships...Nationals...who really cares? So there ARE a few international teams...not a big deal.

Re: WHOS EXCITED FOR NATIONALS
 

Except for the fact that a Canadian team won the FRC Championships last year and the FVC Championships this year (296 and 1114 respectively)... And who knows, we may have another international team make it to the FRC finals on Einstein tomorrow! ;)

Please don't call it Nationals! It only shows a lack of respect for the international teams in attendance.

While volunteering on Wednesday at the FRC pit uncrating I had a woman come up to me who could only speak Spanish. Luckily, hablo espanol un poco ("I speak a bit of Spanish"), so I was able to help the woman through the team registration and check-in process. I was working field queuing on DaVinci field the past two days, and when one has to que several teams who can only speak Mandarin Chinese, you really understand this isn't a national event anymore.

If I were to yell at them "Speak English, this is America!" that wouldn't solve anything or make them magically understand English in two seconds. And unless there is an emergency, I don't want to keep making calls every five minutes over the FIRST communications headsets I wore for the English|Chinese translator. So even though I can't speak or understand a single word of Mandarin Chinese, I was able to teach those teams how the [somewhat complicated] match queuing process works, and what terms like "on deck" or "in the hole" mean!

The language of FIRST isn't restricted to geographical borders on a map; it's truly universal.

At tomorrow's ceremonies, look at the flags above the podium where Dean and Woodie speaks. Those two dozen international flags aren't just eye candy. ;)