Now that I have made it back home from what was a less than totally pleasant experience in St. Louis, I want to attempt to express my total and absolute gratitude to the students and mentors that turned a bad situation into a reminder of what FIRST is all about, and why we all do what we do.
It's been a rough season for me, there have been several times where I have almost "retired" from FRC for one reason or another, none of which I'm interested in discussing here.
As noted in
this thread, I experienced a theft from the pits on Thursday evening during the Opening Ceremony. Before I was even finished filling out the police reports on Friday morning, there was a large group of students waiting in my inspection station area waiting to present me with the collection they had taken up to assist me. This total outpouring of caring and support literally brought me to tears, and served to remind me of why we all "do this".
I often make the statement that I am not involved with FIRST to build robots, but to build the future. This experience has served to refresh my faith both in the program itself, and that we are really making a difference.
I cannot find the words to completely and properly express my gratitude to everyone who contributed, but please all know that your contributions and support are deeply valued and appreciated. In order to not miss anyone, I'm not going to list any individual thank you's.
I promise I will see everyone next year.
-Jeff
Lead Robot Inspector, Hopper Division, 2015