[SPurekar]

The people. FIRST has a unique way of making you talk to the randomest people about the randomest topics without making anyone feel awkward. The competition and the robots enable people to come together, but they’re not what hold the magic of FIRST for me. After seeing them constantly for six weeks, and quite often during the rest of the year, I’ve formed pretty close relationships with my team members and mentors. What really amazes me though are the relationships I’ve formed with people who I’ve seen for maybe 5 minutes while discussing Chairman’s at competition, or who I’ve never met and have just talked to online. I’ve found that FIRSTers are always willing to make their groups larger and accommodate everyone else. It’s that openness that inspires me most.