[Duke461]

Originally Posted by Karthik

I promised myself I wouldn't get involved in this thread, but this is too much.

Karthik,

For once, you are wrong—with the first clause of the sentence, that is. The latter half is correct. I, with the utmost sincereness, thank you for getting involved in this thread, and I ask you to continually get involved in threads that involve you directly and/or indirectly. I do not ask this because i want to read fights, nor arguments, nor ideals that FIRST does not strive for, but because you are a "hidden mentor" to a lot of people, including myself.

I cannot simply express how much of an impact you, and other mentors on Chief Delphi have had on me (Koko Ed, EricH, Akash, etc.). However, I am most certainly going to try. All my life I have been one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. I always want to win, whether it's a basketball game against another school, or a game of monopoly with my family. The worst part is, I always want to make an excuse, or in my mind at times a "reason", as to why I lost, or why he/she won.

Regional competitions, unfortunately, bring out my superfluously competitive nature. I partially consider this to be inherent in myself, but I know it can be controlled. I see, read, and hear about how brilliantly successful teams like 1114 and 2056 are, and my first emotion is jealously. I understand this is wrong, however I believe jealously is simply the evil twin of desiring to emulate, and it can be overcome. My point here is, when I read the aforementioned posts bashing teams like yours, I find myself agreeing with the previous comments, and thinking to myself, Yeah, it's not fair that they have these amazing mentors!, thus being my "excuse", and so on. I then find myself being sucked into these terrible, non-graciously professional opinions.

Seeing you respond to these harsh posts, as professional and mature as humanly possible, is what snaps me back to reality. Swiftly and firmly, but not too aggressively, you knock down every attack placed upon you. You remind me that there are incredibly gifted students out there. You remind me that FIRST is about inspiration, not winning regionals. Most importantly, you remind me that I am acting like a fool and that making excuses will get me nowhere in life.

To put it quite simply, please continue to reply. Please continue to be a hidden mentor. Please continue to show others, and myself included, how to respond maturely and passionately about issues that directly concern oneself. Please continue to post so that people like myself, that may get swayed by these negatives posts, can see the truth. As a junior in High School, I am just now beginning to understand the real world. You, Karthik, probably without realizing it, are helping me to rationally shape a true, honest, and Graciously Professional real world.

With complete sincerity,
Thank you for being a true FIRST mentor.
-Duke

EDIT: P.S. I move to consider keeping this thread open, as per the reasons aforementioned. No, New York, you may NOT abstain from the vote!

Originally Posted by Karthik

//Edit: I apologize for ending a sentence with a preposition. I'm too disenchanted at the moment to fix it.

I'm quite the "grammar police" kind of guy, but I'll let this one slide.