FIRST: the incredible community

[Taylor]

Also be aware of your own position within FIRST. This will be the third season for 1529 - the second for me. As I walked into the IRI in 2005 (my first event), I had heard these amazing stories and tall tales of these characters (mostly Hoosiers - Mr. Baker, Mr. Fultz, Mrs. Ritchie....) and saw these amazing teams. The Beach Bots blew me away with their design; the Pink Team awed me with their incredible spirit; 1114 was the slickest machine I'd ever seen. When I learned their home states (provinces), I was even more in awe. I knew I was in the presence of legends.
Dean Kamen and Woodie Flowers were simply myths - I knew they had some awards named after them or something - but that was about it.
It wasn't until later that I realized that Andy Baker was this dude I had met at a Kokomo workshop, being relentlessly teased by Hambright about his mullet. Chris Fultz was the lead engineer for 234 - our sister school and mentor team. Legends in my own back yard.
It was then that I realized that my goal is not to build the most efficient and effective robot - it is to build the most efficient and effective team.
Maybe in a couple years down the road, rookie teams will look at the mentors and students on 1529 and say, "Some day, man, some day...." That would mean much more to me than any award or championship.