Oh my, this sure has been an UFH winner that I have been waiting for, for a long long time. Amanda Morrison has more passion for this program and desire for giving back to the students to allow them to have a much better life than anybody I know.
I've got many many wonderful stories about Amanda (some of which I can not post on here without fear of losing an arm), but one of my favorites has to be the first time I met her. It was at the 2003 IRI and Amanda and her team had come in with what looked like a bunch of metal. Andy Baker had told me there would be this girl and some kids who may need help with getting their robot together. Several times he asked me if I had spoken with her yet, and I said I had been busy but in reality I didn't really feel like going over there to try to help some random girl who I didn't care about. So I grabbed Clark Gilbert and we went over there to see if they needed any help with anything. I introduced myself and we offered tools and kids to help if needed. Amanda then shook my hand, didn't look at me and quickly and extremely quietly and shyly said "Hi my name is Amanda Morrison" then hurridly scurried back into the corner where they were working. All I thought was that this girl was REALLY weird and kinda freaky, little did I know this same girl would soon become somebody I looked up to and would refer to me as her "right hand man."
Seeing first hand what Amanda continues to do in FIRST is one big reason why I still have the drive to give back to all of those students who may have not had the opportunities like myself.
For you young ladies in FIRST who want to look up to someone, Amanda is the one! She works hard and strives for perfection and doing what is best for all. She sure has done wonders keeping my butt out of trouble (at least not has much trouble as I could be in) and making sure I don't do something stupid.
Amanda, congratulations. You are my Unsung FIRST Hero.
