[moogboy]

I find it from the moment I step out of the car and onto the pavement at the parking lot at a competition and its a continuous flow until about four days after the competition is over.
But, Im sure youre looking for something a little bit more specific, so Ill share a couple of really special inspiring moments....
First...
Success! This year is my first year actually going through the six week build season and it was always really great to achieve something. Anything. It could be as simple as following the instructions to put a gearbox together. At the end of it, I had something that I could take a lot of pride in. As the season continued, bigger things gave even greater rewards. Like the first time we turned our robot on I could not stop smiling. I was so happy that the electronics all worked, and that the frame was sturdy, and so on. Every moment of something getting done and working the way we wanted it to was inspiring. Then came competitions, where we first had no real success, but found our way through the challenges...And every time we take a shot and get those points, I get excited, or every time we pull off any kind of balance, the inspiration just flows in.

Second...
My dad and I were talking about the whole structure of FIRST and what FIRST means on the way home one day this weekend, and it hit me like a sack of bricks. The key to having good relationships with all of the teams at an event is to treat them like human beings. Some would call this Gracious Professionalism, but i have been thinking of it as treating everyone like a person. Ive had about three bad experiences with teams this year, and in each case it is because another team has treated my team and myself with very little dignity. I felt like a dog being told to do tricks by a harsh master. But what I realized was that when I talked to other teams and I spoke to them about who they were, what they were good at, how can I help, etc, the whole process was a lot smoother. We didnt always win, thats for sure, but there is nothing that makes me happier than when I walk through the pits and there are team members literally running up to me and taking a real, genuine interest in how my team is doing. Sure, its important to be doing very well with regards to scores and points and all the technical stuff, and I would never discount that, but that does not change the fact that all of us out there are human beings. And all it takes to bring out the best we have in ourselves is to treat each other that way. It took three FIRST regionals to really and truly show me that, and I cannot thank Dean Kamen and FIRST enough for it.