I’m not sure what the impetus of this poll is.
For me, FIRST used to be loads and loads of fun. It’s not, really, anymore. Not for me, anyway.
So, is FIRST still something that’s fun for you? Or is it a miserable, joyless, overwhelming, unappreciative job?
It is fun for me because it is all one huge learning experience. You can’t buy these kind of experiences. I have felt very burned out at times, but it is only six weeks. I’ll sleep next month. 
Hell yes. I have lost hours of sleep to stress and worry and I have pretty much donated my life to my team (8am-11pm) but FIRST is still tons of fun.
For me, FIRST used to be loads and loads of fun. It’s not, really, anymore. Not for me, anyway.
It’s because you aren’t a kid anymore, you can’t just sit back and watch someone else build it for you if you get tired. I’m kinda going through the same thing now that i’m a mentor. Once you get to regionals it will all go away.
I enjoy every moment in FIRST.
design, building, power point stuff, excel, research, tweaking, arguing, competing
its all great
“Winning cures all”
It’s amazing how quickly we forget the 6-weeks-of-stress during competition…
Which brings on a whole other kind of stress… 
I really enjoy FIRST even though I am not a technical person. On the whole, you learn a lot about human nature in FIRST and not just engineering. I enjoy the whole experience from the build, to volunteering at regionals and nationals. Even though it was my 4th year involved last year was a total blast when I was a referee for IRI, that was the most fun I have had at a competetion.
For me, FIRST used to be loads and loads of fun. It’s not, really, anymore. Not for me, anyway.
I’m truly dismayed to see you feeling that way! I hope I never grow tired of my dear FIRST. Perhaps what you need to do is step back and look at what experiences you got during your High School FIRST days, and realize that you are now facilitating that for all those people on your team.
By the way, now that I am no longer a kid, I CAN sit back, because I make them do it all, while I “supervise” 
. But seriously, I can’t think of any nobler or more enjoyable a cause than being a mentor on my FIRST team.
I hope that the impending end of The Six Weeks, you will be able to realize that it was your influence that helped make that whole bot be in that crate…
The fun of FIRST comes from the people. If you are on a team of people who enjoy and embody FIRST, then you should still be having fun. If you’re not still having fun, why are you doing it?
I’ve seen FIRST from both sides, two years as a student participant, a year as a volunteer at regionals, and this year, as a mentor and volunteer. I’m still as enthusiastic and have as much fun as I did the first year. Figure out why you’re not having fun anymore; FIRST is a learning experience, but you’re also supposed to be having fun and enjoying it.
It’s because you aren’t a kid anymore, you can’t just sit back and watch someone else build it for you if you get tired.
I’m assuming by this you dont mean to imply that you didnt just watch other people build yourrobot and not put any of your blood and sweat and time and energy into creating the beautiful masterpiece that you can call your own.
As for FIRSt being fun, I love FIRST. Its a great place to relieve stress (who doesnt like to swing a sledgehammer at a piece that doesnt want to stay in place) take out other anger (BANDSAWS!) and hang with some of the coolest people you will ever meet? Competitions are a great way to meet new people, including the most diverse set of skills and personalities, all come together for the same reason…The only time I ever get annoyed wtih FIRST is when I have to witness or reap the consequences of the enormous amountof politicing that goes on in our team, but i think that is just the team, and not any part of FIRST. FIRST is life… =)
I love the organization of U.S FIRST. Its organization is number
one to me. For more than a decade, it has molded the future
engineers, architects, etc… for this country and other countries.
For some reason though, some teams take the fun out of it.
Some people forget that its for the students. On some teams
politics is taken into account. I feel that teams are arguing more
on a political level rather than discussing the robotic aspects of
the game.
For example:
I have witnessed a team that has taken them longer to design a
team jersey than build the actual robot.
Sometimes the power of certain individuals goes to their heads.
So instead of dealing with robotic team issues, they argue which
color or what design something is going to be. I believe some
teams waste time, money, and resources of some of their
students. Some team advisor’s don’t realize how precious some
of their students are until they quit and move onto another team.
I went to college and couldn’t live without FIRST. I can truly say that FIRST will always be fun. I think that it is amazing to see how the kids that we mentor learn somethig new everyday. And that they want to be there.
I love FIRST and have so much fun. If we run out of stuff to do or get really frusterated I will play a quick game of euchre with people online and then I feel refreshed and ready to go again.
so have fun and take breaks if you can
everyone will benefit from it.
When I’m at school, building the bot with our wonderful build team, I have fun. When I think about the team and everyone else on it, I suddenly lose that feeling. Isn’t it amazing how a few team members can destroy the spirit of a team?
Its always been fun!!!
It always fun 'til it’s over 
Then there’s next year…
*jeremy
so have fun and take breaks if you can
Ehh trust me I could probably write a lot about robotics and how fun it is. Of course it may not be fit to be published. Everything from my advisor that likes to make robotic sound effects to my friends who let the robot roll off the table last year. Then again I am probably the only person who has actually gotten sick over robotics. That is dedication mauahhaha.
I drive 80 miles almost everyday because I couldn’t afford to be on my old team. I almost never see my girlfriend, my family, or other friends from home because I wake up at 6am, go to school, go to FIRST, and come up at 10:30pm
I’ll sleep next week, I’m having fun now.
FIRST - ‘The Experience’… well… to me it is priceless… we should get it into one of those Discover card comercials. All that I have learned from the prgram, all the program has taught me, and every aspect of ‘competition’… is great.
However, this year… politics… and other not so fun stuff has entered the realm… FIRST and Robotics will always be the joy and greatness in my life. This year hasn’t been as fun, and I am really worried. The students haven’t seen a great deal of the robot work yet, due to most of it being done at machine shops and/or being ‘fancy’ welded. Hopefully during this last weekend, we can grasp more of the actual fabrication of the machine.
Other than that… I shall be greatly prepared for the ‘real world’. I have done many amazing things through my life, and especially on stage, however, I have never experinced the level of stress and nervousness before until I became a driver. I am truly prepared for an Executive job!
I’m getting a huge blast. Each of my four (4) years of FIRST has gotten better and better each year. I have learned so much from my engineers also. Sure, I’m almost definite they wanted to punch me in the face a few times earlier in the years, but hey, that’s life! When I leave for college, I hopefully will be apart of another team, if I don’t start one! I couldn’t imagine going through out live w/o FIRST in it now. It has definitely changed me as a whole. I will continue helping all kids to know what FIRST is and how much good it does for the community, adults, and most of all - the Kids.
P.S. I have noticed that some kids are miserable. You gotta tell your mentors that. They may get mad, but if they truly value FIRST’s true goal, they will realize what they where doing wrong and try to help out. If they leave b/c of what ever reason, than FIRST is better off w/o them. BTW - You can’t please everyone, so take my words in stride. No one will like the way other people do things 100% of the time…