A look back at 2001

[archiver]

Posted by Lora Knepper at 04/17/2001 12:37 AM EST


Other on team #177, Bobcat Robotics - Adoptee, from South Windsor High School and International Fuel Cells.


In Reply to: A look back at 2001
Posted by Patrick Dingle on 04/15/2001 6:24 PM EST:



I'm not sure if I have a single moment that stands out all on it's own. For me, it was the entire season - the highs and the lows, the joy and the tears. Some would say the gold medals on the wall from the New England Regional and the Galileo Division at Nationals would be their moment to remember. A moment which was incredible, and I loved sharing every minute with my team...the team that took me in. But it was the time shared with them off the field that I'd trade any medal for...the moments of cheering in front of the stage, the hugs of farewell, and the sense of belonging that I've never had anywhere else before.

But then there was also the shock of finally getting to Epcot -- something that would not have happened at all without the incredible giving of a Floridian family and a team. The complete feeling of acceptance and belonging even though I was about as much an outsider as one could be.

But I think, although it may sound odd -- my one most precious moment this year had little to do with FIRST, or rather the robotics side of FIRST. It was after the team party, and after an adventure spanning most of the Disney property, I found a friend to whom I had not gotten a chance to say goodbye to. And I think that one moment, that one hug in front of my resort, symolizes to me what FIRST is all about.

To me, FIRST is not about the robots...not about the science, and the technology. I could get the same from Battebots, Robotica, Robot Wars and the like...but rather, FIRST is about the people. All of my friends are in FIRST, and all from great distances away from where I am, but yet, something about this competition has drawn us together...across geographic barriers, across team lines, across racial, gender and religious barriers set up by society. A team from 100 miles away that took me in as one of their own...a friend who found me a place to stay for Nationals...a group of people that met in a chat room and bonded as a group of friends in real life and online. It is that one thing, that intangable thing that stands out for me this year.

Without that, I doubt I would have stayed in FIRST for the past 4 years. Gold is nice, I must admit, but the warmth of a friend's hug -- especially someone you will not see for another year -- is even greater, and worth more than a gold medal or a winning robot ever will to me.

~ lora (who will never leave FIRST, she knows, but is unsure what college will have instore for her FIRST side)