[petek]

The longer I stay in FIRST the more I feel like a conduit for inspiration. When I started out I was trying to inspire the kids, but as I was helping them I was receiving inspiration back and passing it on to my co-workers. (I like to think I became a much better team leader at work after I started working with FIRST.)

Then I started meeting some really great mentors - people like Jenny Beatty, John Larock and Paul Kloberg (and yes, even Rich Kressly, who I worked with at 103) who helped me learn how to reach beyond my team and work with students on many other teams. In looking for sponsors for my team, I found myself setting up opportunities for other teams as well, like setting up sessions at scientific conferences where teams could expand their influence and students could make presentations. As much as I was trying to inspire these kids, they were inspiring all the people they met at those events, plus some!

Once I started working at regionals and off-season events I realized there were all these team alumnii coming back to help run things and I got more inspiration to pass on to students, coworkers and friends - and to help those college students learn how to run things even better.

For me, FIRST is inspiration with a positive feedback loop - it just keeps getting better. I wonder where it will go from here...