[archiver]

Posted by Robby at 2/14/2001 10:45 PM EST


Other on team #108, The SigmaC@Ts, from AIFL and Motorola.


In Reply to: College & FIRST
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 2/10/2001 8:42 PM EST:



I've just hit college so I really can't say. I have had classes on days we've had our meetings so that's a big mess. And when I attend saturday meetings I'm half asleep cause I had just worked the graveyard shift for Kinko's. So I just basically advise the animation team and other animation teams over the web through FIRSTanimators. And do a bit of graphic design for the team (and FIRST as well, if you've seen my cards n stuff).

Now as for High School, I do have a lot to say about that. One of the things I did in highschool was not focus on my grades. The school bored the daylights out of me and the area the school was in didnt help either, espcially with teachers attitudes towards my work and ideas.

So FIRST became my life. Nothing else mattered. And believe me, I made it my life. I was so dedicated to the team, I even skipped out on a trip to Disney with my family to make a weekend meeting. I Dont even think a funeral or an immobilizing accident could have kept me away from that bot. I would eat my tacos and drink my 'Dew through the same straw, but darnit I was going to work on that robot!

Okay, back on track. Basically I built up this idea that grades don't matter. That if I showed the engineers how hard I had worked for them, I would get an internship and be set. 3 Years I worked my butt off for the team. My grades went to crap and I left High School with a 2.8 gpa. And when I applied for an internship, I was turned away because the requirement was a 3.0. I even went through heck with the I-Candy competition cause I thought I was going to get the software and not the school. I did eventually get it though, but the internship, well, things dont always work out the way you want.

This isn't to bash my team in any way. I understand why I didnt get the internship and there are a lot of great guys and gals on the engineering and student side. Oh, and everyone will still see me in Orlando, and hopefully the Midwest regional as well.

Now I still am here for my team, but not like I was in highschool. I dont have a need to do everything, and I am working on keeping my grades up more as opposed to blowing them away for FIRST. And this time I'm payin for school, so why am I gonna waste it? Keep your grades up, and work on a way to balance yer time. It's tough, but at one point ya need to say "Hey! I gotta unglue my hands from this bot!" That or somehow make a project in one of your classes have something to do with your team. Kill two birds with one stone.

My next goal is to work for FIRST. Hmm... perhaps be thier creative guy to go nuts with things like FIRST greeting cards and FIRST wall paper and FIRST cartoons and... oh wait, ramblin again... ::WINK::WINK::NUDGE::NUDGE::

-Robby O