[goldenglove002]

I can think back to my first memory of team 1771 back when I was sophomore. Their robot was ridiculously good. Ours had a lot of pool noodles and zip ties. Theirs won some awards, ours surely did not. Still being relatively new to FRC, I told myself that there was no way students had built that robot, it had to be the mentors doing all the work. 1771 was the one team that I never liked to see at Peachtree. I was one of the "haters".

Seeking to catch up with where their robots were, I learned how to do things. I did plenty of research on past robots and games. I sought assistance from my mentors. And over time, I learned that my original thoughts were completely wrong, students could build some awesome machines. I did it, other students on my team did it, so I'm sure that 1771's students were also doing it.

I've held conversations with plenty of 1771 team members, and there are some very nice, very smart students over there. During this years Peachtree, I spoke with some of 1311's current students over the phone telling them over and over that they needed to pick 1771 if they did indeed end up with the top seed. I applaud what they are able to do as an inspiration to other teams that don't have award winning robots yet.

There are A LOT of really young teams in Georgia. We need to work to show them how they can become an elite team, just like 1771. With the right mentoring from veteran teams, those who are currently "haters" will be converted the same way that I was.