Great story about hardwork and dedication

[Chris Hibner]

A crazy scenario unfolded on our team this weekend, and I wanted to tell the story since it has a great ending where hard work with the possibility of no reward really paid off.

Backstory:
We were selected to be a part of the 5th seeded alliance by team 987 (big thanks, btw). About 10 minutes before wheeling our robot to the field, our arm operator Daveonna experienced an excessive nosebleed (she gets nosebleeds every so often, but it's usually not a big deal). It got much worse while at the first aid station - it was determined that the blood was from deep in the sinus cavity and she actually had some blood coming out of her tear ducts into her eyes (creepy). Our teachers made the decision to take her to the nearest hospital. She actually got better before going to the hospital, but they took her for precautionary reasons to be sure everything was fine. In the end, she was fine by the time she returned to the dome.

The story that cause me to create the thread:
As our robot got to the field and eliminations were about to start, we realized that Daveonna wasn't going to be able to play. While everyone was worried about her, we also knew we couldn't let our alliance partners down so we needed to put in our backup arm operator, Ricky.

Ricky is a very small statured, very quiet person. He rarely shows any emotion and when he does decide to talk, it can be hard to hear what he's saying (but we're working on that). Just before our first match, I went to the stands and told Ricky that he needed to come with me. He had no idea why. As we started walking I calmly explained the situation about Daveonna and that he would have to be our arm operator during the elimination rounds. In usual Ricky fashion, he quietly and calmly said, "Okay. Can you hold onto my stuff?"

We don't have a practice robot, so Ricky doesn't get to practice back home. Our driving time at events is so valuable that we have to give virtually all of it to the primary drivers. Ricky got some practice time before ship and a little during a fix-it window. He never got to play in a real match and he got to operate the arm on the official field in two practice matches. The last time he touched the robot controls was during a practice match in Detroit, over 6 weeks ago. I couldn't imagine what he was thinking, or how much pressure he felt.

Our first match of the quarter finals starts, and Ricky does a phenominal job. The robot is flying around the field picking up tubes and scoring them with ease. There was virtually no difference in performance. My jaw dropped - I couldn't believe that after not driving for 6+ weeks, he looked like a seasoned veteran. He had one small technique issue in the second match (not unexpected given the lack of time), so we told him what to do in that situation. The technique was a very subtle thing that can't be noticed from the stands, but makes all of the difference in the world when scoring over an ubertube. In the following match he executed it perfectly, and from that point on there were no flaws in his play. Absolutely amazing.

Yes, it takes some luck to win your division and get to play on Einstein. But it also takes some good execution and our back-up arm operator Ricky came through like no one could believe. It had to be the biggest day of his life. Can you imagine how much different his day was than what he expected it to be when he woke up that morning?

So, here's where the story gets interesting. After winning the division, we found out that he would practice with an X-box controller every night in his bedroom. He would visualize the robot picking up tubes, scoring on all of the rows, things going wrong, etc. and move his fingers on the controller so he had everything down cold in case he ever got called in to play. He knew that his chances of getting to play were pretty slim, but that didn't stop him. He put in a lot of work without any guaranteed reward, just to be prepared in the unlikely scenario that he would play. He did this because a) he didn't want to let his team down in that situation, and b) he wanted to prove that he could do it if given the chance.

Well Ricky, not only did you prove you could do the job - you helped get the team to Einstein. I'm extremely proud of you. Not just for driving well, but mostly for putting in extra effort to prepare yourself for the situation. That is a lesson for everyone: prepare hard, even if you think you won't get the chance. Hard work leads to rewards - sometimes even when you think there might not be any chance.