Best experiences in FIRST

[Red2486]

I'd have to say that my favorite experience is one of two things:

1. It was Thursday afternoon at the 2013 Inland Empire Regional and a few team members and mentor from FRC 3512 sought us out in our pit. They were looking for our Chairman's team. So, we rounded up our Chairman's team and started to talk. It turns out that they had no idea what they were going to do for their Chairman's Presentation the next day, and were essentially freaking out. The team was even considering backing out of the presentation all together. We spoke for about two hours and together we came up with a structure for the presentation, some materials, and a few other ideas.

The next day we arrived at the venue and rushed over the 3512 to make sure they had everything together for the day. They had a presentation ready to go! So, we all sat down and watched their presentation and it literally brought me close to tears. It was incredibly impressive.

In eliminations we were third seeded and 3512 was our first pick. We got knocked out, but in the process our teams had become really great friends. Although they didn't win the Chairman's Award this year, they were definitely inspired to come back bigger and better this year. They also helped to inspire our Chairman's Guide.

2. The other experience is from Championships, where we were competing for the Chairman's Award. This year at Championships we hosted a "Chairman's Exchange" (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...09#post1260809) and had a great turn out with about a quarter of the Chairman's teams attending. This was Thursday. The next day, during our presentation, our team of 50 gathered outside of the judging room like they always do to cheer our presentation team on. The judges noted this year that we had our own "cheering section". Anyways, we went into the room and did our presentation, and when we came out, our team had seemingly multiplied. About a dozen students from teams that had attended the Chairman's Exchange had waited with our team while we were in the judging room. It was really incredible to have that support from our team AND other teams. Definitely one of my favorite moments!