yes i agree many have threads have be written about what FIRST means to them, what is about and all like mentioned above.
I've always said FIRST is a great big community. we are joined together. it is a way of life in many respects. it instill us with values we hold and learned while growing up. the concept of gracious professionalism always sticks in my mind in what i do in my life and even before i became a part of FIRST. we all build a robot and have the spirit of competition but in the end we all learn and work together.
FIRST has opened many opportunities for me as I'm seeing lately. I have the advantage a lot of my fellow students haven't had. things i didn't learn in high school and did through FIRST are coming handy for me know. I went to a public school and went through IB. I never had like in some FIRSTers, a chance to go to a technical high school and be apart of engineering programs. But with FIRST and IB, I feel I've gained so much knowledge. I've met the coolest people in FIRST from the mentors, volunteers, teachers, and students. They have all inspired me in many ways and many have become some of my heroes and close friends.
FIRST is my life and many I know because we do the things we love. It relates all back to the learning and fun of FIRST in some form. You don't have to be in engineering to love FIRST or science or math. You can have the love for the arts, public speaking, business and well anything. FIRST may stand for For Inspiration Science and Technology but you get a taste of everything if you want it, just look and you will see it there. Everyone wants to see real world applications for what they learn, here you can see it. One of the great things is that we get to see it for real, it's not just a fantasy. You are building something and with time and effort it will work.
I thank the entire FIRST community. You all are great people in this world.
My life is FIRST and will continue to be. We all never want to leave it, once you are in you are in it for life.
(that's just my side of this story i know there are more better ones out there)