Greatest Moment in my FIRST career

[Justin Montois]

So far...

1) Going to the finals at FLR in 2007 as the number 8 seed

2) Winning Chairman's at FLR 3 out of the past 4 years

3) Mentoring all of the great kids that I've had the pleasure of working with over my 5 years in FIRST.

[Rizner]

I would have to say 2007 atlanta - great year to be the driver on my team. Between being undefeated after the first day of qualifications to being in the finals of our division and all the time between and after, it was great.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

My greatest moment in FIRST is probably very different than most.

I've been part of teams that have won regionals, won rookie all star, and many other awards, but my greatest moment happened at a little offseason event ('Mayhem in Merrimack' put on by Chop shop 166).

The game was triple play and that was the year that everything that could have gone wrong did. We got boxed out of our home regional due to school internet issues, so we had to travel that year. During our 1 regional, anything that could go wrong did, including an incorrect rules interpretataion that required us to rebuild our lift system at the regional. Needless to say it was a very uninspirational year (so far).

Anyways, at the offseason event things started to click ... the robot was performing perfectly, the new autonomous code was on spot every time, things were just going our way. After the seeding rounds we were the #1 seed at 8-0. We chose the 2nd seed and they declined (wanting to work with another team). We went through the quarter- and semi- finals without a loss (as did the #2 seed).

In the finals, we won the first match and they won the second match, setting up a 3rd match for the championship. With a few seconds left in this 3rd match the score was tied and we were trying to cap a tetra 7-high on the center goal (very high for those who do not know the game). The #2 seed team was playing some rough defense and our 'bot tipped over. The referee called the tipping intentional and that gave us the game / match and event champions ... but our students didn't believe that they tipped us intentionally and without prompting from anyone went to the head referee and asked if we could decline the penalty. The head referee explained that we had won and if he recinded the penalty it would be a tie and would have to be replayed, to which our students replied "We don't believe that they tipped us on purpose and we don't want to win that way".

The head referee recinded the penalty, we replayed the match and we won ... but, in truth (in my mind), the kids won the second they asked the referee to recind the penalty. That is my greatest moment in FIRST.

[colin340]

1-anytime spent with FIRST buddys
2-2007 when my team 8 seed beat the first seed (365) and when on the get 2nd

[1902_Battery_SGT]

For me the greatest moment in my FIRST experience had to be making it onto Einstein as my first year as a driver and second year on a team.

[schaffin]

I have two awesome moments.

My first would be 2 years ago. I was a sophmore and it was my first year on the team (our school doesn't have freshman). We deicded to go to the Midwest Regional even though we knew it was a hard regional and we were only a second year team. We had a good run and then at alliance selections we were picked by wildstang. We made it all the way to the finals. The first two matches were ties. We lost the next match. Then our robot broke so we had another team replace us. We then won the next two matches and the regional all together.

My second favorite memory is this year at the KC Regioanal. The announcer was describing the Regional Chairman's Award winner. We then realized it was us.

It is awesome being able to go to Atlanta my first and last year on the team.

[thefro526]

The Greatest Moment in my FIRST career was when I saw my team mates stand up for what was right.

We were having a coaching issue where the coach (who's also the head mentor) got very upset with the Drive Team for a decision we made. We weren't at fault, except for not listening to him but he proceeded to take the Human's Player's badge away and told me he didn't need me to drive. I gave my badge back and sat in the stands. About 5 minutes later I got a call telling me to come back and drive. I walked into the pits and everyone seemed to realize that we were right. We won our next 3 matches without that coach and were the #6 seed.

Sometimes, good friends are the best Award.

[keehun]

My regional is week six so I'm hoping that my current moment will be topped
But here is my current "moment".

As a rookie team, last year, we like the only robot (maybe besides one other) that nearly went a whole lap (in autonomous)! Our robot was way over the line but our driving wheels were not, so didn't count as one lap, but nonetheless the whole crowd wend ballistic when we completed that one circle.

[smurfgirl]

I'm not sure if I can pick just one greatest moment- I've had a lot. I love my FIRST family- it includes my own team, and the many other teams and volunteers I've encountered along the way so far. I hope it will continue to grow. FIRST has meant a lot to me, and I want to help to give back to others and to inspire the way I have been. This is why watching people learn and grow as individuals create the fondest and the proudest memories for me. I've seen so many wonderful things happen and people flourish because of their time in FIRST. This is why my greatest moment in my FIRST career is reading my team's first Chairman's Award submission. I have pushed for it to happen since I joined the team, but it didn't happen until this year, now that I'm gone for college. Besides asking some open-ended questions to kick-start their brainstorming and a little bit of proofreading, I really had nothing to do with the process- it was all them; their motivation, their creativity, their learning experiences. The result of their efforts was just absolutely stunning, it was a brilliant compilation of our team story, beautifully written. It made me cry. Reading it, I could tell how much it did for them as individuals and as a team. I was thrilled with the result, and truly proud of all of them. Watching the people I've worked with grow into stronger people and benefit from the program means a lot to me.

Being on Einstein last year was also an incredible experience, and quite humbling... but I don't think it topped the Chairman's Award submission. I've experienced hard-earned victories after nail-biting matches. It feels good, I admit it... but it's a fleeting feeling. In the long run, as great as those moments were in the present and shortly thereafter, those aren't the things that count the most, or make us better people. The moments that we spend with our FIRST family, and the little moments where we learned a big lesson, are the moments that stick with us forever, the moments that ultimately matter the most. I don't really care that much if they win the Chairman's Award, the thing that is most important to me is how much they got out of putting the submission together.

Edit: I finally just closed this after like my 3rd edit to make it sound the way I wanted it to... and then I realized how much this sounds like my "catchphrase"- It's not just about building a robot, it's about building a team. (:

[Taylor]

My third-favorite FIRST moment was when the WFFA was awarded posthumously to Steve Yasick of 85 at the 2006 WMR. I never met the man, but his inspiration was evident in each and every member of BOB.

[Hanna2325]

Friday and Saturday! For most of our team this was our first time at competition (not including KC earlier this season) so making it to the finals was so exciting...I could hardly believe it! It was such a wonderful two days (meeting Woodie Flowers/having him sign the robot and drivers pins!! + Shindig + Kurt's Woodie Flowers' Award! + Competing = BLISS) We had a ? for spanish if there was a time we'd totally live again (in a good way) my answer is 100% the mn competition! It was AWESOME and everyone there was so great!

-Hannah
***

BTW I'm making a flickr dump of pics from MN so if you hav any just pm thanks

[RMS11]

This year at Peachtree we came in very excited with a very young team (more than 50% new members), but slowly these new kids spirits dropped as we fell to the bottom of the standings, with our robot not running about 5 matches and eventually ending 2-7, 43 of 46. But I guess when our robot worked it showed some potential, and the PlatyPi must have seen this in the matches that we did work and picked us as the 8th seed. And "lunch" break was all we needed to get the bugs fixed and some driving practice in. After 2 hours of hard work, we competed in our first playoff match and beat the #1 seed. From there everything worked great and our alliance partners were great also, and we ended up winning it all. This is my greatest FIRST moment.

[MarcD79]

Well, being involved w/FIRST since Sept of 2002 there were moments. I guess the most important was after my older son joined team 176 in his senior year, received great recommendations from his teachers & mentors, was accepted to UMASS Amherst in Mech. Engineering, graduated in May '08 & now works from Pratt & Whitney. There were others, but just yesterday at the CT Regional, watching teams 126, 1155 & 1902 win was worth it. I've never seen so much crying for joy & happiness.

[Neidi Poole]

Before Saturday, my greatest moment in FIRST is the MC dragging me out onto the arena floor to tell a riddle to the crowd, and my first time driving.

But as of yesterday, my greatest moment in my FIRST career is my team winning the Chairman's Award, seriously I am still on the high

[Tetraman]

I could write a book about my greatest moment.