Here's to those who can't make it

[IMDWalrus]

At the beginning of the year, we were told that we'd have to win at one of our two regionals (Detroit and Palmetto) to make it to Nationals.

We lost in the quarterfinals at both regionals.

I'm disappointed that we won't be going to Atlanta, but this year was actually a better experience for me than 2003 was. I learned quite a bit more this year - a direct result of being moved to the Programming team. I've made some great friends on the team, at least one of whom I can easily see remaining friends with for years to come. I've finally demonstrated that Gracious Professionalism is part of my life now - I spent most of Palmetto with 507, helping them to get their robot running and improving on it once it began working correctly.

We had our small victories - seeing our robot (finally!) hang in a match in Palmetto and picking our alliance for the first time in the team's history spring to mind. We've also got our one huge accomplishment - winning the Sportsmanship award at Palmetto.

The year was great, and going to Atlanta would have been a great way to cap it off. Still...I've got one year left with 818. I'm hoping for the best for next year.