Qotw [04-15-03]: Forgotten FIRST-a-holics...

[Kate Leach]

Originally posted by Andy Baker
Kate Leach - Kate was the student leader on team 166 (I think) and later went on to be active on team 190 at WPI. She is a fine young lady who set an example that girls could do this robot stuff too.
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Thank you all for inspiring me.

Hey... this means that I have 4 less people to thank in my "thank you" note.

Andy B.

It feels really good to be remembered by so many people. I am quite touched that someone as great as Andy B. was the one to first point me out in this thread. I think that we still need to trade our 10-year shirts, by the way.

What you remember about me is all true. I did lead 166 back in my high school days. Boy does that seem as if it was a long time ago. I did major recruitment before I left to move on to WPI which included many females, Pamela George being one of them. I have kept in contact with T166 through my years away (my sister being on the team helps) and have loved seeing them grow. I am very glad that BAE Systems has picked up T166. Pre-99 the team was beginning to develop, but it was difficult without having a strong supporting sponsor. It's also cool to see that some of the stuff I brought upon the team over 4 years ago is still in existence today with some modifications.

Making the move to WPI was quite scary at the time. I wasn't top-dog anymore. I still made my way helping a lot with the robot and scouting. Sophomore year I made my way up to "Executive Officer" with Jon Abad with the hierarchy we concocted. They're still using the hierarchy now. If there's anyone that headed off to WPI to do FIRST, feel free to drop me an email (kaleach@adelphia.net) and I'll enlighten you a bit. Oh yeah, I've been around helping with BattleCry since it first started. I've been the only pit boss they've had, and I'm trying to see if I can do it again this year.

As Matty said, I did start the "FIRST-a-holic" ordeal. I had help from my parents and Justin Tresvik in making them. I've got mine stashed away somewhere. I'm still trying to unpack from being at WPI.

Oh yeah, I've graduated from WPI with a BS in Electrical Engineering. Starting June 30th, I'll be a full-time employee with BAE Systems. John B. and Bryan L. are trying to get me back into FIRST with mentoring T166. We'll see how that goes.

My life as it stands now? I still keep my feet wet with FIRST. I went to the Granite State Regional (back where it belongs!), I'm trying to help out with BattleCry4, and I visit T166/T151 whenever I get the chance. Outside of FIRST, I've finished college and have over a month before I start work at BAE Systems. In my free time, I'm not sure if I'm going to travel around anywhere. I just got back from London for doing my IQP (WPI project) at Her Majesty's Tower of London. Every chance I get, I go out and dance -- west coast swing. I compete and do well, so I've got skillz outside of robotics.

I miss everyone quite a bit. I don't really have much time for these boards anymore. I get pointed to some cool threads by some friends I still keep in touch with (thanks to Jess B. through Robby O.'s journal for this thread!).

Awesome mentors who have helped me through things:
Andy Baker T45
Terry Baron T151
Mike Bastoni T23
Bill Beatty T71
Stephen Bitar T157
Mike Fattaconi T157
Jim Fraser T166 (looong time ago)
Joe Johnson T47
Bryan Lee T151
Sam Leone T166
Mike Martus T47
Jason Morella T254
Ben Seward T166 (looong time ago)
Ken Stafford T190
Dan Velasco T42 (a while ago)
Jim (can't remember his last name) T138/T166 (looong time ago)

Awesome friends who have helped me:
Jon Abad
Anton Abaya
Jessica Boucher
Pamela George
Andy Grady
Adam Hathaway
Lora Knepper
Matty Leese
Daniel Lehrbaum
Deej Lemmo
Ken Leung
Robby O.
Kevin Sevcik
Steve Shade
Colleen Shaver
Nate Smith

And I'm trying to have lunch with Tammy, Eric & Mark over at FIRST on the sooner side of things.

There are likely many people that I've forgotten here, but these are the ones I could remember. Oh, and of course, there's my family.

Feel free to catch me on AIM or drop me an email sometime. If I'm around and I'm not about to head off for a dance, I'd love to talk to anyone.

Kate
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Kate Leach - WPI Class of 2003
BAE SYSTEMS Employee
kaleach@adelphia.net
AIM: wpitekchic, dreamindancer4ev
'94-'95: FIRST Spectator
'96-'99: T166 Pit Crew, Animation Lead, Head Scout, Coach, Team Captain
'00-'01: T190 Head Scout, Executive Officer
'02-'03: FIRST Spectator
'00-present: BattleCry Pit Boss