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

[Ken Leung]

Originally posted by Jessica Boucher
and no thanks to those of you who still talk to me and didn't tell me about this

:'( I am sorrry!!!


It's great to hear from Jess, Anton, and Lora again... I misses the old group of FIRST-a-holic, I really do! But as time passes by, different things happen to each of us... Some choose to stay around and put more time into FIRST, some choose to spend their time in school or working (or in Anton's case, gf ).

All I can say is, hey, I really misses you, but I hope everything is working out for all of you. Having been through some FIRST times with a bunch of you, I know you will do really well at whatever you choose to do right now. Just remember to come back and visit us! As I said to Jess a bunch of times, "The past can only be so good... the future... you can always make the future so much better if you want to."

So, working hard at whatever you are doing right now, and like M. said, be happy. You will always be a part of FIRST's history, and a part of our memory as well. I really hope that the difference you made in our lives are just as much as the difference we made in yours. Even though we no longer work and spend time together at the FIRST events, everytime during kickoff and competitions, we will be reminded of the good old times we spent together.

If our paths are to come across each other again, I shall look forward to our future meeting very much. Until then... See ya later .

[Chris Hibner]

Originally posted by Andy Baker
I've got a few:


Eric Gargus - Eric was on team 217 and was their student leader in 2001. He had many friends on other teams and often ventured out on his own to make contacts and build friendships between many FIRST teams. He was excellent at building relationships and networking. He is at the University of Michigan now.

Andy B.

Eric is a great guy; someone who I would consider a friend. I don't know if he would consider you a friend anymore through, Andy, since he goes to Michigan STATE!! (To put that in Indiana terms, it's like saying someone went to IU when they actually go to Purdue - people don't take kindly to that.) Just kidding on the not considering you a friend part.

Anyway, I saw Eric at the Great Lakes Regional. He stopped me in the hall to say 'hi'. It was nice seeing him.

One name I would like to mention is Mike Kulibaba (I hope I got the spelling right). I've only met him a few times, but he was always very nice to me. I would say the FIRST community misses him.

-Chris

[Ken Leung]

Just thought you guys want to see this... Here is a post I found that Anton came up with a while back, a question asking people who they consider "FIRST celebrities". Take a look:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...threadid=11203

I feel so small when I look back at that post... Good old memories of the year two thousand...

A lot of those FIRST celebtities sticked with FIRST this whole time... and yet a bunch of them have moved on to new things too...

Originally posted by Chris Hibner

One name I would like to mention is Mike Kulibaba (I hope I got the spelling right). I've only met him a few times, but he was always very nice to me. I would say the FIRST community misses him.

-Chris

You got the spelling right. Unfortunately Mike is no longer around with us. I remember a post about him a while ago, so I did a little search. For those of you interested in seeing that post, go to search and search for "a very sad day" as a thread title, and you will see it.

[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.
.
.
.
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
=========================
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

[Ken Leung]

Originally posted by Kate Leach
John B. and Bryan L. are trying to get me back into FIRST with mentoring T166. We'll see how that goes.

yay!

Originally posted by Kate Leach
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.

Kate
=========================

I am trying to learn east coast swing myself! Tons of fun, so I definitely know what you mean.

It would be great to see you back in FIRST again!

-Ken L

[Kate Leach]

Originally posted by Ken L
yay!



I am trying to learn east coast swing myself! Tons of fun, so I definitely know what you mean.

It would be great to see you back in FIRST again!

-Ken L

I find it funny that I'm on the east coast and learning west coast swing while you're in the west coast learning east coast swing!!

Kate

[Ken Leung]

Just a little something to help people remember the good times... I found this when I was digging around my computer for old FIRST stuf...

Forum stat 2/21/2001

353 posts ==> Anton Abaya [profile]
279 posts ==> Ken Leung [profile]
257 posts ==> Joe Johnson [profile]
208 posts ==> Jessica Boucher [profile]
208 posts ==> Matt Leese [profile]
140 posts ==> Joe Ross [profile]
124 posts ==> Andy Baker [profile]
112 posts ==> Josh [profile]
112 posts ==> Raul [profile]
109 posts ==> Nate Smith [profile]
107 posts ==> Patrick Dingle [profile]

That was just a little bit before Nationals 2001 :-).

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by Ken L
Just a little something to help people remember the good times... I found this when I was digging around my computer for old FIRST stuf...

Forum stat 2/21/2001

353 posts ==> Anton Abaya [profile]
279 posts ==> Ken Leung [profile]
257 posts ==> Joe Johnson [profile]
208 posts ==> Jessica Boucher [profile]
208 posts ==> Matt Leese [profile]
140 posts ==> Joe Ross [profile]
124 posts ==> Andy Baker [profile]
112 posts ==> Josh [profile]
112 posts ==> Raul [profile]
109 posts ==> Nate Smith [profile]
107 posts ==> Patrick Dingle [profile]

That was just a little bit before Nationals 2001 :-).

I think the more interesting fact is that of those 11 people you posted, only 6 of them are still involved in FIRST (er, I suppose Josh still could be, I'm not precisely sure who that is). I suppose I don't feel the need to comment on what that means but it's interesting none-the-less. Another interesting fact is that only two of those people were high school students at the time (assuming Josh is a high school student which is just a guess).

Matt