Which aspect of FIRST gives you the most inspiration?

[SPurekar]

The people. FIRST has a unique way of making you talk to the randomest people about the randomest topics without making anyone feel awkward. The competition and the robots enable people to come together, but they’re not what hold the magic of FIRST for me. After seeing them constantly for six weeks, and quite often during the rest of the year, I’ve formed pretty close relationships with my team members and mentors. What really amazes me though are the relationships I’ve formed with people who I’ve seen for maybe 5 minutes while discussing Chairman’s at competition, or who I’ve never met and have just talked to online. I’ve found that FIRSTers are always willing to make their groups larger and accommodate everyone else. It’s that openness that inspires me most.

[Danielle H]

I have to put in an argument for the robot. Partially because while I was talking with Chief Delphi today about our robot, Paul, I actually heard myself utter the phrase, "Paul's a powerhouse, if he's driven right." And, honestly, it probably wasn't true. We all knew our bot was kind of a dud. Ever since we fried the grabber motor at 3:30 in the morning, the day before we shipped. But we didn't care. We slaved over that thing like we were going to fix it and make it perfect if it kills us.

For me, it's amazing to go into the season saying, "Okay, we're going to try and use this kind of drive train, so let's start making it." We make a rough - very rough - first shot at a drive train, and then we go to kick off. After finding out about the game, we all look at each other and know we have to start all over again. And instantly, as soon as everything's done at kick off, we're all pulling our chairs together and sitting on the floor, discussing weekly/daily meetings and subteams and locations and how we're going to have to completely rebuild everything we did.

It's about thinking that you're never going to get everything done in six weeks. That initial staring at the screen (or the people, if you're live) and saying, "Uh-uh... ain't no way.. we're going to get one week in and they'll have to change the game, because no one can do it." And then realizing, the day you ship, "Hey, we did all right. No one died and only a few fingers were cut off." (Kidding.. but you know what I mean.)

It's about watching the parts that you fundraised for and begged for sponsorships for come together, almost kinda sorta magically in front of you and form this robot that didn't exist six weeks before. And, at least for 393, it's about naming the robot and realizing that machines, most of the time, need more Tender Loving Care than people do. When the robot becomes a part of your team family, your own family, and ultimately a part of yourself. That inspires you to do better.

Or, at least, when the robot (or as I referred to it yesterday when it didn't like me, "The God-forsaken, piece of junk robot.") that you didn't think was possible is suddenly sitting in front of you, in all of it's FIRST robotics glory, and you know that you made it with your own two hands, and it has become a part of you.... that's where the "I" in FIRST comes from.

((Again, at least that's where it comes from for me.))

[cooker52]

The people. Not just the ones you meet new, but everybody! I always enjoy meeting new people, and this is one of the best places to do it at. But I also highly enjoy helping our team members, teaching, and learning new things almost every dat. I also enjoy seeing how people handle team work in the compeitions, along with the spirit, creativity, kindness, competivness, you get the point, in everyone.

But my favorite part is interacting with such a diverse group that has come up with different ideas for one common goal.

[ChristinaR]

I had to think long and hard about this one, even though I already knew the answer. To me, the people are what makes FIRST such a great organization.

First, it starts with the coaches and mentors. They get us pumped up for the upcoming season and give that inital spark of inspiration that gets us psyched. The coaches help keep the team centered, focused, and organized.

Second, it's all of my teammates. If you've ever seen TJ^2, you know we're a crazy crew. Everyone on the team is enthusiastic, spirited, and fun to be around. Team meetings are often humorous and well put together by our student leaders. It's been a pleasure to work with other dedicated people on our team.

And last, but surely not least, it's all the other people in FIRST. The overwhelmingly large majority of people in FIRST are caring and inspiring people (both students and mentors). I've had some great conversations and met some awesome people at regionals, the Championship, and off-season events. I find it so easy to strike up a conversation with another FIRSTer, something you probably couldn't do when you walk in to your neighborhood Starbucks. We all come together at these competitions with a common goal in mind (usually winning, though not always in the 'first place' sort of way), but leave with so much more. I've made some amazing friends that I hope to be in contact with for years to come.

The organization is truly about the people, fostering the love of science and technology in students from all over the world. If you look at any of the crowd shots from this year (like this lovely one), you see it packed with students, mentors, engineers...people! It's the aspect of FIRST I love best, and it has certainly had the most impact on my life.

[Logan Byers]

I think the most inspirational part of FIRST is definitely the people, but obviously the competitions and the robot are not far behind. Inspiration comes from all angles in FIRST.

In my experience, the mentors help us realize our dreams, our peers help us with those dreams, and the other people involved with FIRST give us the ability/opportunity to achieve our dreams. Without the people of FIRST, I don't know who I would look up to as role models.

Simply attending a FIRST competition can inspire someone to invest their time, money, and/or effort to the FIRST community. Without the energetic atmosphere that can be found at any competition, it would be hard to inspire newcomers to get involved with FIRST.

Personally, spending the time and putting the effort towards building a robot was the most gratifying part of FIRST. Seeing all your time and effort from the 6 weeks pay-off at competitions, win or lose, can be very inspiring.

[Gabe]

The most inspirational thing is the people, because no where else can you go and actually see how profoundly successful FIRST has been in inspiring us, the younger people. You go to a competition and see thousands of people just like you that are having the time of the life. At the same time are learning that creativity is not something that can be forced (which is unfortunately an unrealistic expectation that we sometimes come to expect from other people), but is instead something that come naturally when you rely on your own skills and logic.

This is my six-hundred and fourth post! (604)

[cooker52]

I want to add on to my response since after today. I also think that the people are the most inspirational because of this.

Today, we were displaying at our local 4-H fair. When ever we were playing with the robots, so many people were there, impressed, stunned, and in complete awe, let alone having a lot of fun. But my favorite was whenever a little child would come up to our robots, they would just stare at them with HUGE eyes. And whenever some of them were taking rides up and down on this years robot, they would just smile like they were having the best time of their life. This inspires me because I like to be a part of making somone have fun, and the incouragement of people thinking that waht we are doing is incredible, is just as powerful. But the top of it all, is to see all of those young childeren, looking at awe at what we do, to know that we are impressing them, and that we are going to be a part of making their future brighter, that is what really inspires me to continue working with FIRST, because we are here to make their future brighter.

[MChapman]

This is a hard question for me, and involves a lot of thinking. lol Well FIRST overall is a great inspiration to me. When i first joined my team i felt like i had no place on the team, an just felt weird. I didnt know what to expect, or what to do, little did i even know what a FIRST team was. But as my first year went along by build season i was confident enough in what i was doing that i began to step up. I showed up to build meetings, put in ideas, worked on our essays for chairmans an woodie flowers, and just helped where ever it was i could. By the end of that year i was a leader on the team, (little did i know my head mentor thought i was a good V.P. for the team) Getting to know the science and engineering field a little better has inspired me a great deal, that i took the time this past season to learn the electronics on our robot. Though its not something im planning on doing in college, i still have more knowledge of the stuff now, an therefore i have to say it was the general idea of FIRST that inspired me to do so. The people you meet are fantastic, an you can just be yourself; crazy, fun, serious, shy, outgoing. An i learned to connect more with people, an even get over my fear of public speaking. Now that was a great challenge to overcome! I can honestly say there is no little aspect of FIRST that inspired me, but it was learning, and being involoved with FIRST as a whole that has inspired me to do many things.

[ShadowofaCat]

FIRST is an inspirational program in general.

But I strongly believe that the people make this both inspirational and amazing.

This was my first year being on a team and I do have to say, it just wouldn't be fun without all the amazing friends I met.
The competition is a big part of this also, inspiration hits when you see an amazing robot, or even to see your own robot (that you put blood sweat and tears into ) go out on the field.

but win lose or tie, the people I met this year being in FIRST are inspiring and the most inspiring aspect of FIRST