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Todd Derbyshire
The FIRST Robotics Program at Bridgewater-Raynham High School has affected my life greatly. FIRST has changed many aspects of my life, such as the way I think and my intended major. At first, I thought the program was for all upper classmen in the National Honors Society who were planning to be engineers. When I joined the program I found out that my perception was very wrong. I joined the FIRST Team as a sophomore looking for something to join. At first, I was tentative but through all of the dialogue and outreach I began to become more and more absorbed into the team. That year I was a member of the student board which impacted me greatly. Before being elected a member of the board I never held a leadership position. Through this position I was able to gain and learn the leadership abilities I now possess today. Another way FIRST impacted me my rookie year was their definition of success. I grew up in a highly athletic household and was brought up with a competitive spirit. When I heard the term gracious professionalism I scoffed and thought how could it be done with over six hundred teams competing for a national title? At that event I learned more in one day then any other day of my life. The most important lesson I take with me from that event is that winning is great, but being able to just compete is a success on its own. When my second year on the team came around I began thinking about college and my life. All through my academic career I excelled in my studies in History. So heading into my college exploration I was looking into Law School.
However, the more and more involved I became in the FIRST program I started to change my mind as I contemplated heading into the field of Engineering. Today I am happy to report that I have been accepted to Penn State University, Northeastern University, and Boston University all of which have high ranking Engineering programs.
Last edited by Todd Derbyshire : 20-04-2002 at 20:23.
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