My story
Being only a Freshman now, I'm still learning why I joined FIRST. Basically, I've been a nerd for as long as I can remember. Everyone around me knows me as one, and it only came natural that when signups for our team came around, some of the people on the team asked me to join, specifically my neighbor, who is now a senior on the team. At first (no pun intended), I wasn't totally excited about the team. I really had no idea what was going on. I went through the shop, learning safety and wiring, and went to a few off season events, not quite knowing what was going on. For a while I was labeled battery boy, or cart kid.
Then at kickoff I got really interested. I analyzed the game animation, came to almost every build season meeting, and finally decided on a sub team, programming. At our first regional this year, I really still didn't quite know what was going on, but after staying up all night finishing the robot prior to our scrimmage, I knew what our robot did. Being a programmer, I stayed in the pits often with the rest of the sub team, and helped with a few things. Our only other programmers are 2 seniors, and another freshman like myself, so I suppose I was being prepped for the full load of code next year.
After the first regional we attended, I think I really understood what FIRST was about, and I fully understood the game, and alliance picking, and scouting. Robotics was not what it was back in October. I had grasped the meaning of FIRST, after hearing the guests speak at opening ceremonies. Our next regional happened much the same way, and then a week ago we left for nationals
I had a great time at the championships. I saw a lot of robots, and a lot of really compassionate teams, along with the best Dean Speech I've heard yet. I felt the excitement in the crowds, and in the pits as well. But then the season ended, and we came home to a shop littered with spare parts and old robots, and I began to think back on my first year in FIRST, and how it had changed my look upon robotics and technology as a whole. I got thinking about the next year, when our team would only have 2 seniors, and our entire drive team, head designer, and head programmers would be gone. Our graphic designer and safety captain, the "awkward couple", would be gone as well, the girl in that couple being the one who first pushed me into the team.
I've met some really cool people through FIRST, whether they be a mentor, a teacher, a student on the team, a random person at an event. I don't really know why I joined FIRST, but I know I'm glad I did
Boy...I write a pretty good 5 paragraph essay in 3 minutes.
