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Re: Gracious Professionalism?
I encourage anyone to really read the OP a few times. Just go through it an extra time and let it sink in a little.
It's often hard for people to remember that every team is just like yours. It's very easy to hate something without a face. It's far too easy to go "those jerks are cheaters! they bend the rules!", or "that team's all mentor built, i guarantee it", or "that team never lets their students have any fun" when all you have of that team is their number and the latest bot that's kicked your butt 6 or 7 times. It's so important to let it sink in that every team has human beings on it, just like yours. You know that shy kid who finally came out of his shell at your first regional? I bet 469 has a few of those too. The soft spoken girl who joined the team for Chairman's stuff who ended up CADing the robot senior year? I bet 217 has someone like that. You've spent months designing, building, and executing with your robot, your strategy, and your team... These people are like your family. But don't forget it's the exact same story on 1114, or any other "big bad" team.
There's so much to be lost if you spend your FIRST season knocking down those more successful, harder working, or luckier than you. At best, you have a head full of ill will and can't shake that jealousy no matter what you do. At worst, you end up starting or spreading a rumor, or you actively do something so stupid it not only hurts you and your team's reputation, but you hurt everyone on those big bad teams as well. How would you like it if your entire season was spent dealing with attacks from people who know nothing about you or the hard work you've put into your machine? What if people constantly harassed you just for being successful?
There are many reasons we celebrate success in FIRST. Just one of the many reasons is because it's far, far better than the alternative. Gracious professionalism is making sure you're playing legally and to the best of your ability, while not letting jealousy cloud your judgment of others.
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Mentor / Drive Coach: 228 (2016-?)
...2016 Waterbury SFs (with 3314, 3719), RIDE #2 Seed / Winners (with 1058, 6153), Carver QFs (with 503, 359, 4607)
Mentor / Consultant Person: 2170 (2017-?)
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College Mentor: 2791 (2010-2015)
...2015 TVR Motorola Quality, FLR GM Industrial Design
...2014 FLR Motorola Quality / SFs (with 341, 4930)
...2013 BAE Motorola Quality, WPI Regional #1 Seed / Delphi Excellence in Engineering / Finalists (with 20, 3182)
...2012 BAE Imagery / Finalists (with 1519, 885), CT Xerox Creativity / SFs (with 2168, 118)
Student: 1714 (2009) - 2009 Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Winners (with 2826, 2470)
2791 Build Season Photo Gallery - Look here for mechanism photos My Robotics Blog (Updated April 11 2014)
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