Why do you do what you do?

[Matt Attallah]

Because I'm cool!

Na, because I love this program. It has been probaly the best 4 years in my life! From the great feeling of winning, to the agony of defeat. It gives your head a huge rush. I don't think you can compare it to anything else out there.

I'll do anything, in any manner, that FIRST asks me to do. When they want it done. FIRST is probaly the best thing to do while in school!!

[Da SPAMinatress]

I love playing with power tools, and getting my hands dirty... I have and will forever. It is the best feeling when you're watching a match and look down on the field and can say 'I helped build that. That robot is the fruit of my 6 weeks of labor, and I'm proud of it whether it wins or loses.' It has become a part of me... a part that I would never give up even if I were offered all the riches in the world...

anyway... thats what motivates me, knowing what it has the potential to be, and that I helped make it such

[AlbertW]

why? for one of two reasons.

a.) either nobody else WANTS to do it and it has to get done (like PR, media design, organizing volunteer efforts)

b.) or i think i can do it better than someone else can (strategy and design, manipulator design/implementation)

our team is really freeform in that if you want to do something, you generally get to do it.

[Forsaken85]

Why we do what we do? Well isn't it obvious. Because there is so much when we return. When i go to robotics i have a blast of just fun and energy. You learn and discover the inner person you can be. By joining you learn that there is something down the road worth running for. There is a future. On the way you make friends on the team and across the world. You make relationships that never could have existed. You learn that you are not alone and that there are others who are similar to you. You know that you will over come that star athlete and rise above him. Reasons i always go to robotics is:

1. Returning to the fun and excitment
2. Teaching the next generation
3. Meeting new friends
4. releaseing the inner thoughts
5. Releaseing your ideas
6. learning new ideas
7. Meeting up with old friends
8. Come back for the challenge
9. Learn new ways to look at the world
10. Meeting your inspirations
11. Meeting the dead line
12. Getting respect
13. Showing adults that kids are smarter
14. Showing the world that kids are the future.

We are here to stay, and I believe that one day our generation will run this world better than it is run now. We are the future and we must insure that there will be a future.

[DCA Fan]

I'm in FIRST because it's fun and educational.

Why am I a webmaster?
1) I can't nail straight.
2) I hate filing
3) I do a lot of other stuff, so I'm not at a lot of meetings (during season)
4) I like art and graphic design
5) I LIVE on the internet

[Powers]

Well, last year i was a team rookie (junior in high school) who also played baseball, so i wasnt around very much, and didnt know much about our robot or do anything of any importance. This year i decided to change that, quit baseball, and was the main builder of the arm. I was also the main arm driver b/c of my experience building the arm. The reason i chose the arm was actually b/c more ppl had signed up to help with the drive train who were more experienced so i felt i would do more work on the arm, needless to say, i did MUCH more work than i thought i would, but man was it fun.

[MasterChief]

I do what I do for several reasons:

1. Because I will get interrogated by the team leaders if I don't.

2. Because I will get interrogated by the team leaders if I do.

3. Because it is one thing that I can do better than anyone else on the team.

4. Because Stone Cold said so.

5. Because it is for the team.

[Jessica Boucher]

I'll be honest...I joined FIRST to get into college...because though my voice may have been okay for school choir, and my acting skills got me a minor role in the school musical each year, I needed something more, I needed a career goal. I also was a sophomore when 237 was a rookie, and I wanted to be part of building something new at our school.

Why did I stay? FIRST immersed me into itself. I found my niche on the team, and I dove into finding everything I could on the Internet about FIRST so that I could "talk shop" with the best of them.

Why did I leave? It was a clash of Babson, FIRST, and life, all at once.

Why did I come back? I missed it. I missed being able to "talk shop", to have people respect my opinion. And I realized that there was more that was left for me to do

Soooo, yeah. That's why.

[Aignam]

I don't think any of us were nearly as dedicated until we saw our first FIRST competition. You always remember your first competition. That's what got me hooked.

[Ryan M.]

It's fun to see something work and being able to say, "I did that."

[Jay H 237]

Ever since I was little I always wanted to build things. I like to work with my hands, and I'm one of those people who can't sit behind a desk all day. Started when I got Legos. After the holidays I would cover the whole dining room table with the road plates and build a whole town from the large Rubbermaid container full of Legos. The town would usually stay up until late April when it was finally nice enough to play outside. Then my father built me a Lionel layout in the rec room. Trainset would be an understatement, I had multiple trains running, buildings, roads, and scenery. Unfortunately I also liked to take the trains apart to find out how they worked. When I got to high school I took 4 years of woods, 3 of metals, and 1 of graphic arts. In woods I built soo many projects I can't remember them all. In my senior year in metals I rebuilt a 1978 Wheel Horse tractor and also built a trailer from scratch. It wasn't until after I graduated that the high school got involved with FIRST. After I saw a FIRST video and the general FIRST idea I was one of the original dozen people that got team 237 going in mid '98 to compete in the '99 season. I'm still on the team because it's great to be able to build something from parts and raw material into something that can move and perform tasks. I still like to do technical things, I still have the trains (which I've kept adding on to), and I also have a '68 Mustang I'm slowly restoring.

And the bottom line of why I'm still on team 237 is that they need me. If it wasn't for people like me to take time out of our busy lives and other interests a lot of these teams wouldn't exist.

[Nick R.]

"We do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard!"

[Venkatesh]

I'm an electrical and programming person because it is what I do best and enjoy most. It is fun knowing that without electronics and programming, a great mechanical system is nothing more than massive arms. It is also fun knowing that without a mechanical platform, a wonderous electronic system is nothing more than a brain. In a formaldehyde jar.

Also, I have the least opportunity to break mechanical objects whilst in the middle of electronics. And that is a good thing.

[NateBot16]

I basically do everything except for electronics and programming. Everyone can design a robot and build it reasonably well, but not everyone will step up and do the other things that need to be done. I do the Inventor drawlings, sponsorship, and public realations. I do it becasue I'm the only one willing to do it. I just really love everything FIRST stands for and teaches.

[Crop-Circles]

I started programming because I was the only student who knew much about it. This year that's hardly the case(the new people are actually better then I am). But I still love to program and it uses more math then any other part of the team. If only there was a need for calculus on our team...