Team Australia

[Jacqui Sutton]

I'm calling on anyone who has any interest in making FIRST even more international than it is now, everyone who has even the vaguest idea how to start a team, or any advice at all on this matter.

Last year I was a Senior at grundy high school, in Virginia, USA, and was fortunate enough to be a part of team 388. After graduation, I moved back to my home, in Melbourne, Australia. It's been a dream of mine to start a team here, and now that I've had time to settle back in here and get on my feet, I want to make that dream into a reality. I want to be back at a regional competition, and I want to hear the MC call out that the 'wombot' is about to go into competition. Most of all, I long to give others a chance to experience what I did with FIRST, to give people from my home town that opportunity, because FIRST really is that once in a lifetime opportunity that so many people dont get a chance to be a part of. It shouldnt be that way.

I've done some investigating, I have some ideas of what companies i think would make good sponsors. I havent applied for sponsorship as yet though, because I dont know whether it would be best to start with the sponsors, or first find a school, or a couple of schools to host the team. Whichever I approach first, they are going to want to see support from the other - basically, what I'm wanting to know here is, where do i start? What do i need to do to make this happen?

I want to get this under way now, like ASAP, because in a month's time I'm about to be launched into first year med school, and I dont know how I will manage to juggle the two, but I at least want to have a foundation for this off the ground before I get into that. I'm willing to work as hard as it takes to make this happen, I just dont know where to start, and I dont want to start in the wrong place because I dont want to leave a bad first impression.

Any advice, anything at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time...here's hoping the aussies will join you all in the near future.