An apology from someone a little foolish, a little selfish, and a little inconsiderat

[Kims Robot]

Ken,
I think its always natural to second guess decisions or speeches or anything like that. But echoing what people have said... its speeches like this that make people think.

To give you a clue... I can remember way back in the day... when I was in High School... I always listened to the speeches... I heard what Dean was saying and it took heart. It was for that exact reason that I started 229. If I hadnt really heard his dream, FIRST would have been nothing more than a competition, nothing more than a science fair, nothing more than a plain old high school sporting event to me. Yeah I still would have had fun, but I wouldnt have had that spark that lead me on to go on and try and make a difference. I may not have realized all that my mentors were giving me, all that I needed to give back.

The key is to realize that not every single person is going to feel this way. While everyone here seems to echo the same feeling, for each of them, I bet there were 10 more at the competition that didnt listen. But thats ok. Going into 229, my goal was to affect just one student the way I was affected, for me, if I did that, it was a success.

So measure not by the masses, but by the sparks that you generate.