I think the most inspirational part of FIRST is the competitions, because it takes all of the other things to make it a competition. At a competition, you have all of the passionate individuals that sacrifice incomprehensible amounts of time into making everything work, whether that be directly correlated to the robot, or outreach and sponsorships to keep the team running.
Then you get the opportunity to see what all of our hard work has done, and compare it to what other teams came up with. Competitions were a big eye-opener to me, especially being a freshman, because I could see all of the different approaches to the same problem, to reach similar goals, but each in its own unique and innovative way. It's remarkable, the ideas that make their way into your mind at a competition, especially while scouting. There is so much to learn, so many people to meet, and a ton of robots to examine and admire.
(And of course, you still have your own team to bond with.
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