Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Hmmm how has first effected my life? There are not many kids around here who are interested in the same things as I am. I spent a lot of my life with my brother(who got me interested in robotics). When I became an official member of the team freshmen year I expected great things. FIRST has inspired me to be proud of the "nerd" that I am. I've met so many great people through competitions and through CD. FIRST has also made it possible for me to go to the colleges I would like to go to after I graduate. I think that without FIRST I would not be the same educated, proud person I am today.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

I don't think it would be too much to say that FIRST has completely changed my life. In ninth grade, I joined FIRST because my sister had, and my friends were, and I dragged one of my other friends into it with me. I expected to have no fun, and be on the Publicity team, writing articles and laying low until the six weeks were over. What actually happened was much different. In the pre-season, everyone was shop-trained. Though I had done well in middle-school tech classes, I hadn't expected to take to machinery. After the training day, I seemed to be a natural. It was not even a question, I was joining the building part of the team. By the end of my ninth grade season, I could mill, drill, cut, and everything except lathe with the best of them. I was fully involved in this fantastic organization. My sophomore year I became a student leader and learned how to use every machine possible. I had become more social, outgoing, and happier. I had friends from the other schools on my team, and had become better friends with the people from my own school. This year, my 11th grade year, I started programming, and continued to be one of the team's student leaders. Though I am not going to be an engineer or programmer for a living (silly me), FIRST has improved me socially and expanded my horizons.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Thanks Jane! I hope we get a chance to meet this summer at IRI :) This is our second year with FIRST and I can't believe how much it has changed our family life (not to mention the multi-day LAN parties at our home and the homes of other team members...)

Pete is great. He meets with the animation team during the summer and teaches them. He has some amazing ideas and LOTS of energy and the team really likes working with him.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

I'm actually a sophomore in college right now, so it has been a full 4 years since I joined Robotics for sophomore - senior years of high school. I don't think I really realized the full effects until now. To name a few, concisely:

• Comfort in the shop: This is a very semi-conscious thing for me, but I feel comfortable in shops, with machines, with basics that a lot of entering college students in Engineering school surprisingly don't know.
• Engineering love: I am in Engineering school purely because of FIRST. I would have probably gone into Bio or Chem had I not had interest in design. I started in Biomedical Eng and ended up in CS - crazy how these things work!
• Amazing friends: Some of my best friends are from robotics competitions. It's awesome to grow with the organization, and to realize that you have found a group of friends that will always understand this special part of your personality.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Wolf, I love to hear that!! I think it's fabulous that were able to become more social, outgoing and happier. I think that's really important and life, and it's fantastic that you have been able to find something to help you.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Hair turned gray and I dont sleep as much.....

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

yeah, I think I have some ulcers now :P

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Well, I could begin to explain, but we'd be here all day.

From a general standpoint, I guess FIRST has really made me see things in a whole new perspective.
Mechanically, I'm far more up the road than I once was. I mean, just a few weeks before this year's kickoff, at work, I found myself using techniques I learned from building our 07 robot to fix some of the appliances. With each pasing year, I learn more and more techniques that I would have never thought of the day (or in some cases, 5 minutes) before.

I guess you could also say that it teaches you to be humble. During my rookie year (last year) I didn't fully understand FIRST. I thought it was going to be a no-holds-barred, knock down, drag out robotics thing. But as the build season progressed, I realized that it was more that a game. This in mind, I went to the regional thinking "Wow, this looks cool." When I got there, I noticed that the teams actually got out to help each other. It struck me as nice. Since then, my attitude has changed a lot.

Another added bonus with the above, it teaches you respect. I gained a great deal of respect for all the FIRST teams, because it's not just about helping your allies to achieve a common goal. It's also about helping those in need, even if they're in an opposing alliance. I guess I should insert "gracious professionalism" here. It really is true to the fullest in FIRST.

Also, it gives you a sense of humor. I won't go into that one. It explains itself.

In all, it's had a BIG effect on me, the team, and the people associated with us. it has expanded us as a whole, not just in the field of robotics. I know, from personal experience, that FIRST is a life-changing experience.

But why listen to me? I'm trying to put it into words, but words can't explain it.

I do know that when you have clocked more hours working on your robot than you have in the classroom, you're truly addicted to FIRST. And I'm guilty of that. This year, our team's diet has mainly been a Pepsi-pork rind-and-occasional pizza-and-sleepless-nights-with-lots-of-work diet. That about sums it up.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

And i forgot to mention.... I met my future wife(haha) Lindsay Erin Mantzel. I hope she reads this.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

DANIEL >_<

lol love you too <3

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

The FIRST program has taught me a lot about mechanical engineering, introduced me to many of my best friends, and many other interesting people, gave me some of my best times in high school, and helped me get a job with one of our sponsors.

This is my 5th year with my team, and I hope to help them out for many more.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

I'm a sophmore, but so far, it has made me a much better machinist, taught me a lot about design and how things work, and I've learned a bit about electronics as well. In addition, it's made me better in working on a team. It also might have shortened my lifespan by a few years, from the lack of sleep, and diet of pizza, take-out and soda...:D

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

What's the point of living a long life if it's boring!

I personally rather live 20 years less with robotics a huge part of my life rather than forever without it!!

>_< love how corny that sounded!!

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

Lack of sleep teaches you how to think on your feet. And the pizza thing, its only six weeks pizza wont kill you after that long.

Re: How FIRST has affected you?
 

How has FIRST affected me? For one thing, I mumble a lot more than I used to. And I didn't used to have our living room coffee table covered by Vex components...