[ArmoredFairy698]

I'm a high school senior on team 698 in Arizona. As I read what you posted, so many things ran though my mind -- what I want my future to be, what FIRST has brought me in my past and present, and what FIRST will provide for my future.

FIRST is something I fell in love with years ago. The opportunities it has brought me have been amazing. After our regional this past weekend, I broke down - not in tears - but it hit me. I will never again attend a FIRST regional as a student, I will never again build a robot with my own hands as a student, I will never be able to run wild and go crazy as a driver of my robot.

Every year, my team becomes my family. We hang out together, we party together, we work together, and we accept wins and losses together. They support me and I support them. Having to graduate in two and half months actually scares me now. At first it I was so excited to finally get out of school and be free, but now it's slowly cutting a hole into me. I've even asked the teacher that runs my FIRST team if he would hold me back a year so I could experience FIRST one last time. All I want is that one last chance to go to nationals, to be with my team, and to build one more robot. When they hand me that diploma, they are signing me away from FIRST. It will never be childish to me. FIRST is something that I have felt so passionately about that I was beyond honored to be elected the president of my team this year. I have never made it to nationals, but that doesn't matter anymore; what matters is that I have found where I belong in life, and engineering is my future. FIRST is my future.

I was offered an internship at Microchip this past summer, and I was hired on because of my experience in FIRST. What a resume builder. And, I'm going back (most likely) this summer, before college. I can't really tell you what I was hired on for, but I can tell you this: ROBOTS ROBOTS ROBOTS! It's been amazing.

Now I'm going to college for electrical and mechanical engineering. Talk about FIRST Robotics! I'm aiming for a college education at Embry-Riddle in Prescott, and in fact, I was given a hefty scholarship to the school specifically for my involvement in FIRST.

But no matter where I go to college, I've promised myself that I will stay involved in FIRST. Whether that means I mentor a team that is near the school I choose to attend or if I stay with my team now, only time can tell. If for some reason I can't be a mentor, I will do all that I can to become a FIRST volunteer in order to plan, run, and keep regionals and nationals going strong. But for sure, there is no way I can leave FIRST behind. My dream is to one day own a robotics company with those that I have come to love and respect as peers and friends through robotics. It's got me hooked.

What can I say? Once a FIRSTeer, always a FIRSTeer.

And as Shane said, good luck to all the fellow seniors this year, and to all those in FIRST. What you are involved in now is something amazing and to be cherished. Our time as students in FIRST is short, but the memories, the knowledge, and the experiences will last forever.