[artdutra04]

When one finally realizes the full impact of FIRST, one can't but help feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

We are not perfect, and we understand that. Yet we make every attempt we can to put aside our personal differences to come together, to create, to recognize, to inspire. Knowledge is openly and willingly shared, rather than secretly obscured and muddled. We've found a way to eliminate the seemingly instinctual habit to form a "caste system" of society; for in FIRST everyone is on the same playing field (no pun intended).

In FIRST, we've been able to push aside many of our negative instincts while embracing the positive. Next time you are in Atlanta for the Championships, stop and take a moment and just observe everything. Here are people from all over the world, who have never met prior to this event, yet they are as kind and benevolent as lifelong friends. If our future scientists, engineers, and leaders are in FIRST right now, then our future is a bright one indeed.

These students will graduate, move on, and settle down into a life of their own. There will always be something inside them, something that humbles them to think that they were part of something as great and amazing as FIRST. You can take people away from FIRST, but you can never take the FIRST away from them.