[Danielle H]

Danielle Hurley --Outreach Chair/Woodie Flowers Author-- Tri-State University 2013 (yay five years!)... or, maybe... Clemson University 2012

Oh my gosh... how I sum up my FIRST experience into words... is that even possible? I don't know if strong enough words in the English language exist to describe just exactly how I feel at the culmination of the three years I've spent with my team. There have been a lot of ups, a lot of downs, and a lot of lessons learned, whether it be the easy way or the hard way... but most of the lessons on 393 are learned the hard way. From coming on the team in an unconventional way ("If you're a friend of Andrienna, then I trust you.") to losing the support of an entire school system and having to be 'unofficially' involved in the team until the time of travelling, which we could do with A LOT of liability paperwork, to losing our head programming engineer three or four days before kick-off, 393 has certainly given me some experiences that are unlike any other.

Granted, don't get me wrong, even with all the drama on our team, that's normal, right? There's drama on EVERY team! Heck... even in theatre, there's drama, and I'm not just talking acting and teching. But I'll take the drama any day if it still gives me the friendships, life lessons, and everything else that I've learned through the team. You have to take the good with the bad, and, once the four seniors sat down and actually talked it out, the drama wasn't even that bad. So, it wasn't much of a sacrifice for a great team.

To my FMJ 393: You guys rock. Greenfield kids that are there now, STAY THERE. No matter where Greenfield wants to go as a school, you have the right to choose that particular team, or FMJ 393. Choose 393. The experiences that you had this year, as good as they were, will only get better as you find yourself more involved in the program. Trust me. My first year definitely wasn't the best year, and look at how I ended up. I love you all dearly and want you to stick with the Morristown program. It's a lot closer and family-like than some of the other programs I've seen, and I want to be able to come back occassionally and see how much you've grown as an individual, as well as a team member. THAT will be the most satisfying part of my FIRST career.

I love you all, 393 members and all the rest of you FIRSTers. You guys are responsible for making me who I am... after all, how many other programs can convert a writer into an engineer?
xD
Not many that I've seen.

--Danni
--393