[robotkayleigh]

I had to write an essay for our team scholarship that I think explains my reasoning fairly well.

If I think about it, my entire life seems like one big FIRST experience. I first saw the Bomb Squad when I was in the fourth grade and the thing I wanted from that moment on was to be on the Bomb Squad. FLL started the next year and I was on my way. I sort of bounced around on school teams for a while, but then some of us got serious and we started our own team. Lucky for us, we had six Bomb Squad members to show us the ropes. Jesse Darr and Ashley DeMass seemed to take an interest and worked with me on the research project. They taught me how to speak in front of people, talk to judges, and think on the fly, all skills that I would find essential not only for a future in FIRST, but for life.
Before I knew it the ninth grade had ended and I was getting ready for high school and The Bomb Squad. Little did I know my parents had different ideas concerning my FIRST career. They gave me an ultimatum saying that I could join Bomb Squad and nothing else or I could not join Bomb Squad and compete in everything else. Unfortunately for them their plan backfired and I chose FIRST. The rest is pretty much history. I started out a quiet sophomore sorting screws, obsessing about ratchets, and doing whatever the seniors asked me to. My junior year I think I grew up a little, wanting to know about everything from Inventor drawings to the finished robot. Stepping into the position of driver I was more nervous than I think it's possible to describe, but I learned how to control my nerves and something about grace under pressure. This year was my senior year and I put everything I could think of into this season. I stayed on people's couches or in their spare bedrooms, going home maybe twice a week, just to attend meetings full time. I made sure we had a coloring book and decorated recycling bins.
I don't know what sorts of experiences you want to hear about, but I don't think I could have put anything more into Bomb Squad or FIRST. I started a silly kid who liked to play with legos, then I grew up a little and started researching topics, I grew up a little more and mentored my own FLL team, I grew up even more and became senior robot driver for the Bomb Squad. Now I am a freshman entering University of Arkansas's mechanical engineering program and I plan to continue to let FIRST help me evolve. I hope to one day be a referee, a judge, have my own team, or maybe when I'm old and experienced enough, Dave Lavery or Dean Kamen's job. You never know. It could happen.