UFH: Matthew Leese

[Ken Leung]

Mr. Leese ;-) is one of the first FIRST-a-holic I've met since the beginning of my time. I remember he used to be one of top 5 posters in the CD forum along with me and Jess Boucher. Boy, time sure has gone by quickly. Everything was totally different back then.

I remember Matt was one of the first to take pride in the idea of doing FIRST during college. He and Jess Boucher and Joe Ross and Kate Leech are the few FIRST friends I started hang out with outside my old team. Gave me a sort of home away from home feeling beside IRI. I remember walking past team 73's pit area at Epcot, and saw him handling the paper work for the team. When I saw that, I thought "Wow you don't have to finish school to be a responsible mentor." I knew that's something I couldn't do at the time, and admired it greatly.

Heh, Matt, every year we say we are going to stop doing FIRST, and look where we are now. You just got to be another Unsung FIRST Hero! Hopefully that won't boost your ego too much :-P. Seems like you have a long road ahead of you. The Rochester regional is going to be a handful. Try not to burn out from doing too much.

I am sure we will see each other again. Thought it might be a few years before I visit out-of-state competitions again.

*edit* Found some picture of Matt from kickoff 2002. Figure I would post them just for fun ;-).