[cgmv123]

http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...from-a-student

I can’t believe it’s Week 6 already! Along with 16 other events, we’ve got two District Championships on tap for this weekend, Pacific Northwest and Indiana, at which I expect we’ll see some fantastic Recycle Rush action. I’m heading to Indiana myself to see their first-ever District Championship.

Last weekend I was at the Greater DC Regional, at which I had the pleasure of witnessing the #8 Alliance, captained by the 13th (!) ranked team at the event, Team 5243, Centreville Robotics, from Centreville, Virginia, USA, make an epic run all the way to the final matches, against the #1 Alliance, captained by Team 3419, the Rohawks, from New York, New York, USA. While the #8 Alliance lost both final matches, the scores were 124 to 120 and 137 to 132, a total margin of victory of only nine points. Somehow, that #8 Alliance just gelled in those playoff matches. It was awe-inspiring. While they ended up as Finalists at the event, and I’m thinking they probably would have preferred Winner if given the choice, I would bet that story ends up getting told around the campfire, or around the pizza box*, for some time to come.

Something else interesting happened to me at the DC event. When I was checking into the hotel nearby, the hotel staff member casually asked me if I was in town for business. This brought me up short, even though “Are you here for business or vacation?” can be a common question when you are checking into a hotel. Finally, I just answered “I’m here for a robotics competition”, and we talked a little about it. If the hotel staffer had asked me “Are you here for awesome?” I would have answered, without hesitation “YES, I AM HERE FOR AWESOME!”. Then when I got to the hotel room, I gave it more thought. I realized I enjoy my job so much that when someone asks me if I am traveling for business I am incapable of answering. And here’s the key thing – every student on every FRC Team can eventually get a job they love that much. Why settle for just bringing home a paycheck, when you can get a job you love as much as most people love their weekends? Stretch yourself, try new things, work hard, get an education, be nice, and this is possible. It’s not just better for you, it’s better for all of us, when people earn a living doing things they love.

FIRST Robotics Advantage

Check out this great blog from Abbey Thompson, a student on Team 1305, Near North Student Robotics Initiative, from North Bay, Ontario, Canada: https://passionatelydignified.wordpr...irst-robotics/

Nice job, Abbey!

Frank

*Don’t get me started. OK, too late. Three nights in a row at the DC event I had pizza and wings from Paisano’s in Fair Lakes, Virginia. Because they were that good, because I love pizza and wings, and because I very foolishly set aside dietary considerations when I’m on the road. Please note this does not constitute an official FIRST endorsement of Paisano’s, or of eating like this. My doctor doesn’t endorse this either, but I’ll be she’s never tried these wings. Dang, they were tasty.

Everyone in the Greater DC area need to order so many pizzas and wings from Paisano's now.