[OZ_341]

This year at the 2009 San Diego Regional a rookie Brazilian team 3032 had no robot as a result of a shipping mix up. Several teams (341, 1538, 1266, 812, 968.... and many others) got together to build them a robot at the competition on practice day.
On that Thursday, these kids were not divided by teams, there were no matches, there were no judges. All you could see was a bunch of caring individuals that came together to help someone in need. When the robot finally was turned on and it worked, the joy that erupted was something I won't soon forget. It was a beautiful sight to see these kids celebrating something so important. Something they all had worked on together.

For the better part of the qualifiers the Brazillians were in 8th place with their new robot and eventually ended up in 18th. But more importantly they had the opportunity to learn within just several hours everything that is great about FIRST. The caring, the joy, and the ties that bind us together all converged that night in San Diego.