Best experiences in FIRST

[mwmac]

My best FIRST experience has not happened yet but I know exactly when it will occur. Next May, my twin sons will graduate with degrees in Mechanical Engineering, not because I am an engineer because I am not. Rather, their imaginations were captivated by their exposure to FRC and the efforts of an extraordinary engineering mentor on team 2122. Thank you, Dean. Thank you, Mark.

[dricks]

Having a student you mentored announced as one of the 10 Dean's List winners, two years in a row.

[treffk]

Most memorable honestly has to be when I started volunteering with FLL. It was right before awards and the students who had been going all day were yelling "we love legos yes we do, we love legos, how bout you?" back and forth. That is until I wheeled the trophies and medals in, then they just cheered and went nuts.

This experience has always resonated with me as FLL Is 9-14. While these kids don't get as worn out as JrFLL it's still a long day for them waking up early to make the trip to competition and be there awake and excited all day. I honestly even rank this experience over the 1 time my team (well I guess now former team since I've moved) made it to Championships.

[mechanical_robot]

My best expierence in FIRST was probably joining this year (2013 was my rookie year). FIRST competitions are probably the most fun I have had ever.

[George C]

Herman - the sole member of FIRST Team 4625 from Fort Mcmurray, Alberta, competing in playoff action at the first Western Canadian Regional. The team is registered again for 2014.
http://www.firstroboticscanada.org/m...irit-of-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!

[Ken Zaballos]

I am the mechanical engineering/design mentor for FRC Team 1983. I have two “Best” experiences in FIRST. One was the 2013 season and the most significant happened in 2008.

I won’t bore you with the details of our difficult 2013 Build Season. Late in week 4 we realized that the architecture we were pursuing was not going to work. We needed to make some hard decisions. We reorganized what we had and put together a machine that could play the game, more or less. It was/is a weird machine, very difficult to operate.

Our first competition was at Central Washington University and it started out horrendously. We seeded 32 out of 50, probably our worst showing ever. I was thinking this season was going to be a fiasco. The rest of the team, however, only saw a challenge to be met. The entire team came together like I could never have imagined. The Pit Crew and Drive Team put in heroic efforts to get the most out of what we had. The Scouting Team identified the best alliance partners who could augment our capabilities throughout the season. We continued to gel: winning three regionals (Central Washington, Seattle and Spokane) in three consecutive weekends along with Chairman’s in Seattle. In St. Louis, we were undefeated and seeded 2nd on Curie, but lost in the semis due to mechanical problems. I am inspired by our team’s perseverance and belief in their abilities. It was an unexpected and unbelievable season.

My absolute best experience in FIRST happened in 2008 as a rookie mentor. I didn’t know what FIRST was about or what my role was. I just loved working with students on a challenging problem … still do. We had a good season and I was happy with that, but I was clueless about what was really happening. After the season was over, a student gave me a long, heartfelt letter explaining the impact I had changing the direction of her life. Engineering was not a career choice encouraged in her family. She now has a BSME from WPI and is married to a FIRST alum. She is also the Coach for our two new FTC teams. She is an intelligent and highly capable woman and I am proud to have her as a friend.

FIRST changes lives and I am humbled to be part of it.

[Dan Petrovic]

The quote in my signature references what happened at the 2007 Granite State Regional. A bit of a throwback, but I took a break from FIRST while I was in college. I just got back into it last month with my old team, so my stories are all going to be from 2008 and earlier.

Anyway, Team 1991 was the only rookie team at the event that year and they hailed from the American School for the Deaf located near Hartford, CT. My team sat behind them in the stands during the course of the competition and we noticed that instead of clapping, they all rapidly waved their hands in the air to signal applause.

So, when 1991 was called out for their inevitable Rookie All-Star Award, instead of clapping, we waved our hands in the air just as they did. Slowly, but surely, the sound of hands clapping died and the arena grew silent. Judges, referees, volunteers, students, and mentors alike all signed applause to honor the rookies.

It was easily the most touching moment I have experienced in FIRST. I think it'll be tough to top that.

[E Dawg]

I was the OP and never actually said what my best moment was.

We helped to start up team 2133 (Ridgebotics). 159 Alpine Robotics is tied to Poudre High School and 2133 Ridgebotics is tied to Fossil Ridge High School. 2133's first season (2012) they won the Rookie All-star Award, which was super exciting for both us and them. Then this year (2013) they had an amazing robot that was kicked butt in qualifiers. Seeing 2133 expand has been a great experience for me.

They grow up so fast.