I see it two different ways:
1) Kick-Off: Simply because you know that you are about to start 6 weeks of an incredibly stressful time period. No more going home early (or attempting to), no more regular meal time, or bed time, or bath time for that matter. You know that you are going to have to work harder to maintain your grades. You know that you are going to spend all day at school or another vicinity with a bunch of stressed out, caffeine addicted teenagers. And you know for a fact that some where down this 6 weeks period you are going to loose it so bad ... you want to call it quits. So thinking about those things and trying to get as much sleep as I can possibly force my body to before Kick-Off definitely stresses me out.
2) Ship Date: Simply because I am scared that what happened last year to our team will happen again this year ... the guys were working until 3:00 in the morning to get this robot ready to be shipped ... and this year I will actually have to be there
. And naturally it is a very stressful time because you are trying to tie up all the loose ends and make sure everything is in place and that you haven't left anything out and to try to breath in between. But at the same time, you know that its over so with a bit of nostalgia and a definite strong feeling of relief you await the best part of the season ... the competitions. That's the true Christmas morning alike to me.
But, this is just me and maybe I just think backwards.
A mentor, by definition, provides a nuturing environment and, over time, makes themselves progressively unnecessary. - Rich Kressly [more] 
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