[Phoenix Spud]

The coolest moment for me was walking out of the GSR stadium with all the awards we won. (4-5 depending on how you count) The awards weren't the cool part though. The cool part was knowing that the lives of my team mates would never be the same. One of them now hopes to become an engineer--before he wanted to be a docotor--and another has changed the coureses she is taking at school to include science.

More rode on our team then just that robotics comeptition at this year's GSR. The fate of Australia was resting on our shoulders to a certain extent. We will now attend the Championship not only representing Australia, but also my home region, New England. There is a certain sense of irony there, but it is good irony.

Our team met and exceeded all our goals. At the begging of the season we said our main goal was to have a driving robot that did SOMTHING by the competition. We had many hurdles to overcome being the firrst FIRST team in Australia, but with each challange we rose to meet it, and in the process became a family. I have never seen a FIRST team come together as much as we did. We really miss each other, and e-mail or Facebook every night!!!

On the plane ride home, we would all gather at the back of the plane and talk about how great GSR was. Luckily, the plane wasn't that full, so we didn't bother anyone. I think most of the time was spent talking about fundraising to get back to the USA for Atlanta. We can't wait to see you there!!!