Quote:
Originally posted by Ken L
Questions 11/01/02: What do FIRST mean to you personally, and why on earth are you spending so much time in it?
Extra bonus points if you can include a little bit about why rookie FIRST participants should spend as much time in FIRST as you do, and why high school students who aren't on a team should join or start one, and... oh... why companies/parents/engineers/school administration/friends should help teams out...
Shouldn't be too hard, right? 
Have fun,
-Ken L
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What FIRST means to me hmmm..... thats a tough one In order to answer that I'll start from the beginning. The first day of my sophmore year every new kid went to the gym where a Club fair was being held. I wandered around for a while did'not see anything I liked really but I signed up for Drama crew cause I did not see anything else i liked Then just as I though there was nothing for me I heard the sound of a badly tencioned chain jumping around on a sproket. This drew me to the corner of the gym where I saw the craziest looking robot I had ever seen in the entire world. I saw it roller system draw up balls and watched as its huge arm Grabed the drwan up ball and plaved it in a basket like 8 feet in the air. The moment I saw this I was hooked. I talked to the students how were running the robot, I asked questions about the game and how to sign up. Thus began the greatest experience of my life. From that day I have loved first with all my heart (I never did go to any Drama meetings). When ever I was at a FIRST meeting I felt like part of a team, Eventually I became part of an elite core group of students with in the team that every body on the team simply called the Elites Were were the student who got there early and left late every day during the six weeks. We would not stop working untill the stuff we had outlined at the begining of the night was done. Even if it was 3:30 in the morning. We stayed untill it was done.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that becasue of FIRST and all the wonderful people on my team have shown me something that has changed my life for the better with out FIRST I'm not sure what I would be doing right now.
As for rookies on teams I don't think they should spend as much time as me cause I'm crazy
Rookies should try and become an intrical part of there team, they should suggest things and ask questions, even if it's all ready been though of, it still gets them experience on what works and what does not work when coming to building a robot in every disipline.
For Students who are not on a FIRST team I belive that they are missing out on some of the best times of there life not only do you learn about building robots you make friends and meet aquateances that you will have for the rest of your life.
If everybody helped out with some team, some where I think the world would just be a better place in general With teamwork, resect, hard work I belive that anybody anywhere can accomplish anything.