FIRST means ?

[Mike Schroeder]

Hello Everyone

I have been in first for 5 years, and all this fighting and arguing has really upset me, so i though that i would try to lighten the mood,

Please i want to refrain from turning this into an argument, but feel free to voice your opinion as long as its in accordance with CD and it's rules (veiw here: CD Rules )

In my 5 years i have heard quiet a bit of speeches from varios people., and most of them have inspired me to work towards Fufilling my objectives in FIRST to the best of my abilities.

I want to know from people what thing have various people said that has inspired you for example, Chuck Yeager: a National Icon, and the perfect representitive that FIRST could have (people may not agree with things he said, but take into consideration it comes from a person who has spent along time in the armed forces) He pointed out how we are the Test Pilots of today, we need break the current "sound barriers",

Dave Lavery is another person who has moved me, he gave a speech at Annapolis that showed how a student showed NASA up so to speak, these are things teams should strive to do and work towards, Make NASA say Darn i wish we thought of that

Woody Flowers pointed out that there is no bridges named after famous scientists, you do not see the Curie Memorial Bridge around many places.

Dean Kamen's Speech during Kick off, should be manditory reading material for all of FIRST, and another thing i will point out in my rant, LIVE ISNT FAIR!!!!!, oh well, your ref screwed you over, you didnt win, your robot didnt do as well, FIRST doesnt let you use the gage of wire you want to, Teams get more money/engineering help than others

Ranting and Raving on Cheif Delphi Forums is not going to get you anywhere (although people might disagree) if you want to change the world or rules you need to act not talk about acting sure its nice to get the approval of other people, but not important, i think that it was Mike Martus that said that FIRST was listening to us when we wanted rules changed, but i think that they were listening to the people who were acting on it, not the people who posted how unfair it was.

I think most people like to see healthy discussion/debates about things, but if people feel that strongly about things, they need to act. but when it turns into a flame war, screaming contest, that is when it becomes a horrible childish game.

</rant>
So what i want to know, is things that have enforced your beliefs in FIRST, things that have been said to you or that you have seen, Call it a FIRST spotlight. Feel Free to discuss any problems you have with anything i have to say via emai : jackal1084@msn.com or i have aim : bobo1084 . yahoo : volcano0025 , how about MSN Messanger :Jackal1084@msn.com[/email] any way you want to , feel free to talk

Thank you for your time and have a nice day

[AlbertW]

one of our mentors: Dr. Hansen Yao, giving up his time and energy selflessly to help our team achieve his goals. I don't know HOW many times he's driven to the bosch place, or driven us to and from osh and home depot. We asked him why he did it, he said: "Sometimes I think it's more fun for me than it is for you."

People like him are examples for all of us to follow. He's really reaffirmed my belief that FIRST works. It got us in touch with engineers, and it showed us the aspects of gracious professionalism.

[Wayne C.]

Here's a few moving quotes

" _____ father died a number of years ago. Since ____ has been on the team you've given him back the kind of things his father would have. Thanks" - a parent on the 1997 team, who later gave a $1000 donation to the group in appreciation

"I don't need an anniversary party. Use the money for the kids on the robotics team."- Walter Suchowiecki, BMS technician

"Hey Cokeley, don't worry about it. We've got it covered"- numerous student leaders in reference to various problems the team deals with


Speeches by great personalities are terrific but actions by the people around you say so much more.

A quote I picked up years ago-

"Greatness isn't achieved by doing the uncommon things but instead by doing the common things uncommonly well."


WC

[Rich Kressly]

I think of the many experiences I've had through FIRST, both with my own team and interacting with many others, and to sum it all up in a word it would be INSPIRATION.

I'm one of the luckiest people around because I love what I do. Here's just one example of the type of inspiration that surrounds me every day:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=20159

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Wow, you're asking a lot. There are tons of inspirational things people say and hear everyday. When I was trying to teach myself acoustics I found a group that taught everything I needed to know. Synergetic Audio Concepts was taught by a husband and wife team, Don and Caroline Davis. The word "synergetic" in their title should tell you a lot. A synergistic material is one that is stronger than the sum of the strengths of the two materials individually, i.e. reinforced concrete. Don and Caroline would always place this saying in the newsletters, so I am going to pass it on to you...
"I met a man with a dollar, we exchanged dollars and then we each had a dollar. I met a man with an idea, we exchanged ideas and then we each had two ideas."
The free exchange of ideas whether in Syn-Aud-Con or FIRST or Boy Scouts, has propelled me further in my field and in life, than anything else.

[Sophey Chan]

I'd have to say some of the biggest inspirations for me are jsut the over all attitude of FIRST. I orignally joined it cause my best friend in school asked me too. And after going to the Rodeo, I met a lot of interesting people, like even though University ended up tipping us, we became best friends and I even ended up mentoring them at Regionals. So I loved the attitude there, so I decided to stick it up.


Then at Regionals it really hit me. Being a team of 3 incline a lot of people helping you. Everyone there was so nice to me, and offered help. Phillip from ComBBAT running around for an hour trying to find me a part, Lake Brantley offering to let me do human player in the finals, since we didn't make it, along with numerous other things.


Just everyones attitude makes it seem like it's own serprate community, no one fights, everyone laughs together, you all make new friends. It is sorta liek a Utopia on Earth, it is just a nice feeling, knowing nothing can get me down while I am at competition, I always have friends to turn to...