Freelance FIRST

[Madison]

Originally posted by Al Skierkiewicz
M Krass, I ask you to consider whether the team will be better off without you, will the students learn as much from your absence, what will the team have learned from this. I know there are some truly impossible people out there and it is possible that one may have filtered onto a FIRST team. Those people don't last long in FIRST or they change.

The answer is no, categorically. I haven't ever doubted that. If I didn't think my presence made for a better experience for the team and its students, I shouldn't have ever been there in the first place.

The only thing I hope they learn from any of this is that, sometimes, there arise issues of personal safety and happiness about which there can be no compromise.

My split from 810 isn't as a result of a petty team disagreement, but from many months of perpetual insults and hurtful, unsolicited "advice" from their advisor about my life and my future -- at times, bordering on "discrimination" (in quotes because the federal government says it's okay to discriminate against me, and I'd rather not go into detail.)

It's with great regret that I have had to distance myself from the students and the team, really. They provided me with amazing opportunities to influence them and teach them about what I've learned in life and engineering, and they also gave me an amazing outlet for my ideas and experiments. I don't know if I'll be so fortunate as to find so many opportunities ever again. But, until something about the administration of the team is changed, there is no chance that I will subject myself to the same abuse.

So much for being on the soapbox for tonight. I am sure you will shine wherever you end up. Good luck in all you do.

Thank you. I hope you're right, and I hope that as the season ends and the cycle begins again, I'll find someplace to be and something to do that allows me to continue trying to be a valuable asset and contributor to FIRST and its teams.