Prepping for 2008: Awards, Bandsaws, and Perspective

[sanddrag]

To quote Andy Baker

FIRST *is* about winning, and it has made many of us winners.

I hope I'm not stealing the meaning of what he is trying to say but to me I believe that he is saying winning a competition shows not only how good your robot is, but how hard your team has worked to make it that good.

The bottom line here is that this is a competition not an exhibition. When we compete it makes us:

• Strive for higher goals
• Form friendships that can last a lifetime
• Put more time into our work
• Hold an overall higher value of quality
• Devote our lives to this
• Care

Rich, I understand the point you are trying to get across and how chopping your trophies in half would do it, but in a way it might send the wrong message. I think a winning team more often than not is winning in more ways than their robot's performance. While some teams have have trophies handed to them for no reason at all, I think the act of chopping them in half is somewhat insulting to the teams who work hard for years to get them.

In my eyes a shelf full of trophies does more to inspire new students than a trash can full of trophy parts.

[Sunshine]

I believe that the point he/we are making is that the most important part is the journey and what you take away from it. It's not winning but feeling that you are a winner, because you accomplished more than you thought possible.

Many walk away from a competition as winners without getting a prized trophy.

I agree, it is about:

* Striving for higher goals
* Forming friendships that can last a lifetime
* Putting more time into your work
* Holding an overall higher value of quality
* Devoting your lives to the values and lessons you have learned along the way
* Caring

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Sunshine

I agree, it is about:

* Striving for higher goals
* Forming friendships that can last a lifetime
* Putting more time into your work
* Holding an overall higher value of quality
* Devoting your lives to the values and lessons you have learned along the way
* Caring

Core values.

[Rich Kressly]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

Rich, I understand the point you are trying to get across and how chopping your trophies in half would do it, but in a way it might send the wrong message. I think a winning team more often than not is winning in more ways than their robot's performance. While some teams have have trophies handed to them for no reason at all, I think the act of chopping them in half is somewhat insulting to the teams who work hard for years to get them.

In my eyes a shelf full of trophies does more to inspire new students than a trash can full of trophy parts.

Exactly correct and it's why I didn't fire up the bandsaw. It's all about remembering what the trophies are really all about, which can be difficult at times.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Rich Kressly

Exactly correct and it's why I didn't fire up the bandsaw. It's all about remembering what the trophies are really all about, which can be difficult at times.

At our Showcase for potential new students this year, our team set out our table and the robots for display/demo. Our teacher was not able to attend and we didn't set up the big display that we have done in the past. Students took over with a 2nd year in the lead and all of a sudden - all - the trophies that had accumulated over the years started traveling up the stairs and landing on the table. It looked rather like a yard sale. I laughed and stood back and suggested that - a. if the teacher could see this, he would not be happy and b. could they maybe dust a few?

And I waited. Our student leader is a 4th year whose brother was on the team 4 years before her. She was participating in a brief performance with the choir and then would come join the team. Sure enough, she showed up, took one look at the table, and said, 'no, no, no, not this one, not this one' - and started handing back the trophies to the new members to return to the classroom. When she was finished, we had a few trophies and plaques and a technical notebook that members of the team had written, to talk to potential students and parents about. We also had one of our smaller robots there on the table to talk about and we had last year's FIRST robot to demo. It was one of the moments that I was privileged to witness, watching a veteran team member teach the newbies. Very cool.