[Veselin Kolev]

It is difficult to judge a team, if you have never seen how they work. Many of the comments on the thread state this, and it is true. There is always some doubt when the only people that can say what goes on in the 254 shop are the people that work their.

That is why I personally wanted to go see them at their NASA workshop, to see how they work, why their team is so successful. I met the 254 guys there about a month ago (mid april) and checked out a day of their world. It was a few days before nationals, and they were busy, playing practice rounds on their spare robot, packing the crate, charging batteries, etc. However, how many NASA guys were there? Three, and they are all college students. Just as Bill Gold said in an earlier post, 254 is guided by the advice of three college students, Al, EJ, and Bill himself. In no way is anything given to them, in no way is their build season easy. These three mentors work tirelessly day and night, working with the students to make them the team that they are. I went there trying to steal some knowledge for myself: what can I do to beat them? As I left that night, all I was thinking is: how can I be more like them?

I truly appreciate the fact that people from 254 let me come over and see how they work. I hope people realize that Bellermine Robotics is a SELF MADE team. They have, on their walls, pinned up all the awards banners they have won over the years. They have a lot of them, and I feel that they fully deserve every one.