[J_Miles]

I, and the rest of the EngiNERDs, especially those around in '08 and '09, can certainly relate to this sort of dramatic turnaround from one season to the next.

2337's rookie season was before I was in high school and before I'd ever heard of FIRST or knew that our high school robotics team. Some might say that, in 2008, 2337 came out with a splash. Some of my alumni friends had great memories of the robot that became known as "Das Boot." To put it into perspective - the NERDs won multiple rookie awards and had strong showings at their regionals and qualified for Championship, where they finished qualifications ranked #2 on the Curie Division and were eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual World Championship Finalists. Certainly, this success it not unprecedented - teams have gone further in their rookie seasons, but it seems to have been rather exceptional for those who experienced it.

When I joined the team in 2009, I heard ALL the stories of the 2008 successes. I didn't really know what to expect, but I was a freshman with zero prior FIRST experience. What I most certainly DIDN'T expect was the year we had in '09. After (somehow) advancing to the semifinals at Kettering, we never hit .500 at any of our subsequent competitions, never got picked, and went to the Michigan State Championship mostly on the luck of the draw.

It was humbling. It was disappointing. It was also an enormous learning experience for my team, and particularly my class. When we weren't scouting (even though we had next to no hope of getting picked, much less PICKING, scouting was still heavily emphasized. And if your first experience scouting was in 2009 like mine was...well...I don't envy you. There were LOTS of reasons that Lunacy was generally not an enjoyable game), we were team building. Whether the young students were in the pits working on the nearly hopeless robot or with other teams playing games and forming friendships, that year instilled a LOT of the values of FIRST into me, and I think that by saying that I can safely speak for my peers.

It wasn't fun to be so unsuccessful, but seeing robots like 67's, 217's, 469's, and 70 & 494's (And their insanely successful autonomous) was inspirational. A big question I asked myself was: "What's stopping us from being that good?" Personally, it was what motivated me to do everything I could to improve our team - on the field or off. My experiences with teams like RUSH off the field helped me understand how multi-dimensional FIRST and FRC are, and watching the incredible performances of Michigan's elite teams on the field inspired me to be a better designer and mechanical team member.

As much as it may have stunk to watch the robot flame out nearly every match, I don't think that the four Michigan District Wins and one District Chairman's Award Win would have happened if we hadn't faced the same sort of demoralizing turnaround that we saw in 2009. It taught me that FIRST is about more than Robots. It taught me that if you ever think you're "done" improving, you're dead wrong. It taught me how to set goals. I may have learned more in the year I remember least (and try to avoid remembering) than I learned in three other years on the team, and probably made those three other years more successful, to boot.

TL;DR:
Humility is good. Disappointment breeds humility if you have the right attitude. Disappointment can also help build the right attitude.