[KenWittlief]

Im patiently waiting for 2:00:00AM EST so I can set my clocks ahead and change my smoke detector batteries (WOOT!) and saw this thread.

Al hit the square snail in the head. It takes about a year for some students, mentors and parents to really understand FIRST, to 'get it'

so you gotta expect some people involved in the teams are going to be out in left field. Happens every year.

Other things that happen every year:

debates over whether the students should build the robot without adult help
every team has at least one romance
every team has at least one cross-team romance at a regional or the championship
every team ends up with one student in tears at an event (sometimes off by themselves)
every team ends up with at least one student and one adult who gets so upset they quit the team
every year there is at least one team that is the outcast / rebels / renegades
every year there is a controversy about some aspect of the game, or how it ends up being played

its good to know these things ahead of time. You can almost make a list and check them off each year as they happen.

Knowledge is power. Know whats coming and you can be ready for it when it happens.