Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelwm
Our team is in it's second rookie year - we have gotten to the semi-finals at every regional but never further, and just last regional, we were the closest to going to the world championship we have ever been. After we lost at our last regional, I was personally devastated. So close, yet we didn't make it. The point is that our team is a middle-lower class team. Going to the world championship is really my dream.
And yet, of the people on our team who have heard this announcement, we all dislike it.
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Exactly. What makes the championship experience inspiring is the diversity and the massive, electric feeling that builds around it.
In 2013, my team got our first regional win ever playing defense for the two best cyclers at the Wisconsin regional. We couldn't do anything for our first few quals, and still got picked. In other words, we got lucky, but it was still the start of something really special. By our next event, we were shooting more accurately, and into the high goal, and placed second at the event, ahead of one of our alliance partners from Wisconsin, who we then picked. When we went to champs, i was a freshman who had no idea what to expect. What I found was a city in a building- a global community that understood and sought inspiration from one another. I scouted with a Canadian team, shared tools with an isreali team, drooled over a robot made completely of laser cut wood; I learned so much from all kinds of teams from all over the world. Yet, despite the many backgrounds of these teams, they all shared one common trait: they were all a vital part of the unique energy of the global community that is FRC championships.
The next year, we were an alliance captain at both of our events for the first time in team history, going to finals at Midwest before being taken out by two of the best shooters in the world. This year, we kept pushing, and we got our first ever chairman's win and our first ever 1st seed, and are ranked among the top teams in the world for OPR.
It's amazing what one small taste of championships can do. Even if you aren't the best at your regional, know that if you really, really dedicate yourself and seek out your own inspiration, success will come to you.
The
inspiration champs instills in students is not from simply being there. Your hard work and perseverance, the diversity, and the energy of this global community are what makes champs such an inspiring experience. I think it'd be a mistake for FIRST to forget this.