FIRST has completely changed my life, I used to be very shy and didn't really talk to people unless I knew them very well, but through just one year, I have become more outgoing and confident, now people can't get me to shut up. I also learned so much about the design process and building and machining parts for the robot. I became a sub-team co-captain for the mechanisms (arm and ramp) team which taught me how to be a leader. The mentors encouraged me to speak up and share my opinions and ideas, an incredibly valuable thing to be able to do for someone interested in engineering. I was very involved in alot of the outreach the team participated in and knowledgable about the robot so the mentors pushed me out of my comfort zone by putting me on the judges team for competitions, judges team talked to anyone who was walking through the pits and had questions about our team or the robot (specifically judges and scouts), we also presented Chairmans Award. Since the season ended, I have done many presentations, even one to the Michigan Education Department: Education Technology Committee, and one comming up will be to the Michigan Education Association (500 people will be there), and I can honestly say I am not nervous, before I joined a FIRST team, I was nervous about giving presentations for a class, but now I know I can present to anyone. FIRST and Team RUSH have taught me to be more out going, confident, and not to care what others think, just to be myself.
sorry, I know it is long, but there is so much to say and so much more I could have said
