Dealing with disapointments

[Michael Corsetto]

I think its hard to consider any season a disappointment. For the 6 years I've been in FIRST, my team has never won a regional, been in the finals once, and overall had some of the worst luck when it comes to Saturday afternoon matches. Regardless, I know each season has been far from a loss. Recognizing weak points and building upon those the following year is crucial to success, I'm sure any seasoned veteran team can tell you that.

I too realize how hard it can be to think you could have done more. The team I mentored built an excellent robot, really top notch for this year's game IMO. Unfortunately, we had less than experienced drivers (crucial to this year's game) and lack-luster pit organization that ultimately prevented us from performing to the best of our robot's abilities.

Did we have a great season? You bet. Are there plenty of areas we can improve upon? Always. The team has taken it in stride, and we've already begun off-season projects and training that will prepare us better than ever for next year's competition. If you do the work and give it your best, I think any team is capable of pulling off a 67-esque season. Thats what we're going for next year

[GaryVoshol]

There are teams that go years before achieving "big success" if you define that by winning awards or being in the elims. Let alone winning any tournament. The only way they make it to Atlanta is to pre-pay. And FIRST recognizes and accepts that; the reason for the pre-pay option is to give every team the opportunity to come to Atlanta at least once in a student's 4-year career. (And in the last few years, at least every other year.)

If teams set realistic goals for themselves, they will not be disappointed. Sure, everyone wants to be an alliance captain (or at least be selected to an alliance), wants to advance in the tournament. Everyone likes awards. But if you celebrate the many successes you have along the way, you won't be disappointed when you don't achieve the "big success". Remember the true successes: those students who achieved so much, and who improved and learned to set themselves up for the only true successes we should care about - their futures.

[Bharat Nain]

It felt as if some invisible force was against our team this year. We missed the ball on the design of the robot and broke just about everything we could on the robot. Still, we know we were amazing out on the field and did the best we could. We are happy our alliance did not lose because our robot broke down. But here is a big life lesson:

You can only control your own actions.

You did your part by showing off your robot and playing an amazing game out on the field. You cannot control the fact that you did not get picked or that your alliance partners failed on your or that any hardware FIRST provided failed on you. Things like this are always going to happen and the best you can do is put everything in your favor to win.

At this point of the year, I think you should look at things differently. First, be proud and happy of all your achievements this year. Look at what you could have done better and write it down for next year. Come up with an implementation for next year. That is the best you can do.

[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by Bharat Nain

You can only control your own actions.

Bharat had it right.

MORT is a terrific team... and it has been for a long time.
It will continue to be as long as you make it that...

I would hazard a guess that every team except three went away disappointed to some extent on Saturday... at least on the field.
It is natural... if you weren't disappointed with not being champs something would be wrong with you...

We all work so hard... we spend so many hours... we sacrifice for our teams..we get too little sleep...

I know the cliche' "We are all winners..." but it really is more than that ... it is really the truth...

I had the privilege to coach a team for several years that won 1 trophy..never had the opportunity or the money to go to CMP..

Student from that team have gone on to be engineers and scientists and are mentoring other teams now.... they are winners... the team is a winner everytime it steps on the field... They (and many, many other teams..) have overcome the obstacles and accomplished something that most high school students would NEVER even have the fortitude to try to do...

Booker T. Washington once said:

"You measure the size of your accomplishments by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals..."

Just think about what you have done this year... and other years...

My new team went 5-2 on Curie (12th seed) and did not get picked ...
Were we disappointed???

OF COURSE WE WERE!!! but after a little bit... we started to turn that disappointment into action... how can we be better...
What can WE do ...

I think this is the way you have to deal with any disappoinment..
Turn it into an advantage... learn from it...

You have a terrific team and a terrific history...

The 2010 Season starts now...... get started...

[Akash Rastogi]

I want to thank you all for taking the time out to help me on this. It means the world to me to find out how others perceive us. I feel much better. I just wanted to make it clear that this opinion was just coming from me individually, not my team.

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

If you are just going to dwell on the perceived injustice of it all then you are just going to come across as bitter and that's really not going to do you or your team any good.

I do not feel bitter at all about not being selected as that was not the advice I was looking for.

[smurfgirl]

There is a lot of luck involved with competitions- the matches you end up with can change the outcome of where you seed by a lot, which may cause some people to misunderstand how strong any given team actually performs. If you are experienced enough, you will realize that seeding and whether or not you are selected for elims is not a measure of how strong you are as a team... but not every scouter/team has made this realization. Often, "the wrong" teams are selected. On Galileo this year, there were so many strong teams that they simply couldn't all be in elims. There were some things that surprised me- how did 25 and 971 last so long? How did 1124 get picked so soon? But again... part of this competition is luck. A good team may get overlooked, a team with lesser performance may be picked on a whim because the captain saw them last or their spirit stuck in his head.

I would not take your team's performance on Galileo as a sign of personal failure, or even failure on the part of your team. People throughout the country and the world know that MORT stands for excellence and is consistently a leader and an inspiration in the FIRST community. People still recognize that. Anyone who has ever visited Chief Delphi knows what wise words you speak and how many things you personally have done to help other teams and other individuals.

Some things speak more powerfully about a team and about a person than whether or not they played in elims at the Championship. Your efforts in the community, your gracious professionalism, your character and endless spirit- these are the things that people will remember for a long time. In two or four or ten years, no one will remember your performance on Galileo, but I bet the name EWCP will still stick in people's minds. These are the things that matter, the values and the goals that outlast any one competition or season or drive team.

I realize how frustrating and disappointing it can be to watch your team not be selected, especially when it seems deserving, but I would focus on bigger picture. The main goal of FIRST is not just to build a winning robot- the competition is a means to something much greater and more beautiful than that. You and your team have embraced this greater mission, and you should be proud to be recognized for that.

[AlexD744]

First, I kinda feel how you do right now. And I guess what keeps me from feeling worse than I should is that the second we 971 was picked and we were out of elims, I went to my freinds from Krunch and found out they were picked and started cheering and working with their team. It was great to keep having fun with a team we sharks all love. Is it dissapointing to not be in elims? Yes. But it is amazing to know that you have a team to root for when you don't do so well. I'm sure that MORT with it's long history has a ton of freinds that they could cheer for, my suggestion is to find those people next time. That really helped me.

Also, can this be stickied, I think this thread could help a lot of people, one of which is me.

[Akash Rastogi]

Originally Posted by AlexD744

Also, can this be stickied, I think this thread could help a lot of people, one of which is me.

Seconded.

And yea we did cheer for our friends out there on Galileo. 1923, 56, and 25. We went nuts when MOE, Daisy, and Cybersonics all won a championship award.

All this really helped me today everyone, and I want you all to know how much it means to me. Its good to know that we (MORT) and I personally, are in such good company year after year.

That's a lot of great advice for me and it has helped my outlook on this past season. I hope this thread also helped a few others I had in mind at the time.

[Robert Cawthon]

Its not wrong to feel disappointed. I certainly have had my share of disappointments and will certainly get more. It's not the disappointmens that matter. You will get more in robotics, if you stay, and in life. The important thing is how you handle the disappointments. You can learn from them and continue on, or get upset and quit. Your choice. Personally, I hope you stay with it and figure out how to make the best of it. Good luck.

[Brandon Holley]

Akash,
The fact you care about not making it to elims is enough to say you are a dedicated FIRSTer. I watched MORT go through 3 years of bad luck (and some good luck) before we FINALLY won our first competition in our 8th year as a team!! A bunch of people have already given the standard advice and it something you should pay attention to.

You can't win every year (although some of the great teams figure out how to), but you can sure as hell try to win every year. I've been to nationals 8 times now...getting picked there is not something to take for granted. This year we were I think the ONLY team in atlanta to go 0 and 9 (1-7 in qualifers, the win was a surrogate....and we lost both of our quarterfinal matches). However, we still managed to get picked...For everytime I have been snubbed from a pick (see 2007 nationals), I can point to a time I've been lucky someone notice dus (see this years nationals). Sure our record was horrendous...but we were a decent robot who could score points, and someone noticed us. If you ask anyone on our team, I bet they would say we didnt have a snowballs chance of being picked, based only on our record.

The point of this story is to realize its only 1 year. Its only 1 competition, in the grand scheme of things. There will be a bunch of offseasons, and eventually another build season will come around. If you work hard, make connections, and believe in your team you can avoid the scenario MORT went through. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it won't happen again, because chances are that sometime down the road it will....but don't let that fact discourage you from giving it your all every single year at every single competition.



-Brando

[thefro526]

Stogi,

Occasions like this are what Fueled me to do well. People in this thread are saying, "We haven't won a regional in xx years", "We didn't make it to the top 8 here", "We missed the elims there" but you have to remember that there's always a team that has it worse than you. Look at all of the teams out there that have been in this for 5,6,7,8 years and haven't made the eliminations in any of them. Or look at the teams who have never even gone to the Championship and you'll look at everything that goes on for your team in a different light.

My personal Disappointment story is this, 816 has never won an on-season event, made it to the finals by it's own merit or ever really done anything spectacular. In 2006 when I joined the team, we invested 5 weeks on a shooter that never materialized, so we were forced to use this half thought out dumping mechanism. We got to Philly and did ok, or as good as we could've done with what we had. We went to Atlanta that year and went 0-7 we were ranked dead last. In 2007 we fielded this hack job of a robot that came off of the field broken in 6 out of 7 matches in New Jersey, and half of the matches in Philly. We went to Atlanta, this time we went 2-5.

I looked at these two dismal seasons not with anger and envy but with a more scientific mentality. I picked them apart, I saw what was wrong with them and changed these things. Look at where 816 is now. Disappointment can be your fuel for greatness.

I'm not saying you don't have every right to be Envious and Upset, but you should use your energy for something good. Try to come back twice as strong next year. Just remember, this is one event out of many, one robot out of your legacy, and that you're not alone.

-Dustin.

[Taylor]

[disclaimer]I don't come from one of the high-level teams from which you've solicited advice [/disclaimer]

This was the fifth season for team 1529, the CyberCards. In our short lifespan, we've been to exactly six regular season events. Due to personal and professional conflicts, this is the second year in a row that our engineering mentors have not been able to help the team - the CyberCards are truly student-run and student-built, and honestly it's pretty obvious. For the past four years, we've consistently been at the bottom of each regional. This year, we were fortunate enough to join the 7th alliance at our regional, got knocked out in the first round, and I'd say that was probably the proudest moment in the students' lives. Just the fact we were selected to compete in the eliminations energized the kids more than anything I had seen (keep in mind there were 35 teams at this year's BMR, which means only 11 sat out).
For the first time, our students really believe in themselves. They've seen the robot perform admirably (although the W/L record doesn't accurately reflect it), they've been a key member of a strong alliance, they handled themselves well, and they've set lofty goals for next year, including attending a second regional(!) I am personally very proud of what our team has accomplished this year and others, and I hope to see continued success.
To be 17-14 overall (heck, just to play in 31 matches in three competitions) would be a huge honor for our team. I would suspect half the team would wilingly chop off a finger just to go to Atlanta, let alone compete.

Please don't take me the wrong way. For a while I've admired MORT (albeit from a distance) and I think you've got a quality program. I also think it's great that, despite what we would call fantastic success, you're left feeling unfulfilled and disappointed. To me that means you want to continue to grow and improve, and that's admirable. But sometimes we just need a little bit of perspective.