[Venkatesh]

It is indeed sad when you have to leave FIRST, but it must happen in all walks of life. Do air force generals get to fly F15s anymore? Does Gene Kranz direct Space Shuttle missions? People have to step aside, to give room for the new ones. It was so when almost all of us entered. We were trained and guided so that we could take over when the old legends graduated and/or were displaced in other ways.

When you leave, you can at least take pride in that your work will be immortal, in the hands of new students and future wizards, who all learned their craft from you. Those students will then pass that knowledge on, and your work will have inspired a small legion of people who are forever in debt to your service. That was the greatest part of FIRST to me, teaching and trying to inspire others.