Why did you join FIRST?

[David Brinza]

This is one of the best CD threads ever. Take the time to read the stories!

I blame my oldest son, Matt, for getting me hooked on FIRST (sound familiar, petek?)

At Matt's request, I attended the inaugural St. Louis Regional in 2002. After Bomb Squad emerged as regional winner, Matt asked me whether I'd go to "the Nats". I told him I couldn't, but somehow found myself at Epcot a few weeks later. That definitely was a life-changing experience. The energy in the pits, the open-air Einstein field and Zone Zeal was, like, Disneyland for me. As I roamed through the pits, I came across Team 980. It turns out their founding mentor, Robb Hogg, worked across the hall from my office at JPL. (Yes, I flew 2200 miles to make that connection!) Robb invited me to help mentor the team, and the rest is history.

A couple of follow-up notes:

Both of my sons graduated from Team 16, an outstanding organization. Matt received his BS in Computer Science from UCSB in 2007 and is "stuck" in Santa Barbara. Clayton, robot driver on Einstein in 2008, is now a business major with IT emphasis at Univ. of Arkansas.

I don't think I'll ever graduate from FIRST. Since 2003, I've inspected a couple hundred robots, taken over the reins for Team 980, helped form Team 2404 and, in my spare time, became an FTA.

For me, there's no exit strategy. Then again, FIRST pays me very well (just not in $$).