[laurenlacy]

I just want to give a quick congratulations to Mark Lawrence, the 2009 MN North Star WFA winner. For those of you who haven't yet had the chance to meet Mark, all I can say is try to! To be able to watch his face as he realized it was him who won and then to have the chance to see Woodie Flowers himself present the award was an honor in itself.

I've known Mark since our rookie year, when he was the only mentor we really had and we were building out of our team captain's kitchen. He has always believed in us and has always made me want to be the kind of person who would make him proud. When we won the Wisconsin regional with 111 and 1625 our rookie year, he was right there filling out the paperwork for us to go to Atlanta, never doubting for a second that we'd be able to find the funds.

As he saw what this program did, he got us really involved in trying to spread FIRST in Minnesota. Last year I saw a few questions about the sudden explosion of FIRST in Minnesota... and I can tell you that Mark Lawrence is a major factor in all of that. His passion and drive and sheer energy have really inspired so many other teams, and I know he has always been a rock for 1816.

Not only has he done all of this for Minnesota, he is always willing to make time for the students on the team. Our senior year of high school my friend and I did a final project using a hydrogen fuel cell to power a VEX bot, and Mark offered to be our project liason with the school. As I've gone on to college and have come back to the team as an alum he has always been excited to hear about what we're doing with our lives, never being too busy to have a quick chat.

He has shared his house with us, his life with us (thanks also to his wife for sharing him! ), and I truly don't think the award could have gone to a better candidate. If you happen to be at the regional tomorrow and you see Mark, give him a pat on the back and thank him. He is an inspiration and a model for all of us to follow.