Strangely enough, I am reducing my involvement with the team (1802). The team is starting to mature and I find that some of the parents are stepping up to fill the gaps. I am trying to get them to recruit more mentors (there are many out there that can do more than I can) and get the seniors to mentor the freshmen. Perhaps in a few years, we will get new mentors that used to be students with the team. :o
In a large group such as my team, I often talk to much and bring up topics/conversations that are barely related, and really just wastes everyone’s time and energy. I’d like to do that less.
Very excited 
My goal this year is to do less work. Therefore getting the rest of the team to do more work and they learn more.
Although I helped in the 1999 season this will be my 10th year at a Kick Off. Each year I am excited about the new game release and each year I get less interested in the interesting speeches given before the release. I want to get right to the game, but we all know how important the speeches are and the information given. It is good for the students to hear what goes into setting all of this up and how it will help them in the future.
When you’re new at this you tend to think that your idea is the best and it is crazy to do it any other way. I have learned through the years that there are many ways to win the game and it is better to work with the group and come up with a plan together. I hope to listen to others better and make this a great learning experience for the students. (That is what this is about anyway).
This will be my 7th FRC Kickoff. I am still excited despite not really being part of a team anymore.
A skill I would like to learn this season? I want to learn more how to design and make. Maybe not well enough to build a drive train or an arm but well enough to make a mount for a sensor. 7 years ago I learned how to use mills,lathes, drill presses, etc and I haven’t put the knowledge to much use, I would like to change this.
Admittedly, I’m working on not yelling at kids this year.
I want to begin designing efficiently and intelligently. I want to learn to dominate a match.
Each year, I get more and more excited about kickoff, and this being my senior year…lets say I’m not sure how I’m going to sleep tonight…I just spent all day in the robotics lab improving our crate, doing some last-minute kickoff planning, and building storage systems, and can’t wait to get started on the robot!
And as for goals…teach my team everything I know, and get some promising, newer members to love this stuff as much as I do.
My goal for 2010 is to develop remote mentoring skills. :]
And oh yes, I am excited!
I am excited for tomorrow which made me ADD all week.
I am with Kara and Chris, this year I need to work on teaching more than doing (my goal is to be responsible for less than 25% of the electrical wiring this year, I did almost all of it last year because the other members interested seemed to not be able to stay focused.)
We have a team that is 1.5 to 2x larger than last year if people stay in it and continue to stick to it, many of these members are Freshman so I am also hoping to learn to have more patience in teaching them and listening to their ideas.
I love the fact that so many Mentors and leaders have responded and all with great anticipation for tomorrows event! Yes, I too am itching to see our new challenge.
What skill would I like to develop? I want to learn Inventor.
Excitement is peaking.
I guess I set a goal this year of making one new goal for myself.
Hey, wait a minute… I’m done!!
Good luck and see you on the field!!!
We are, with help from other local Rochester NY teams, hosting a “tailgating” style party starting at 7 AM Saturday! Stop by for food including pancakes, sausage, bacon, and games outside in the parking lot! Weather will not stop us! :yikes:
Considering this is my senior year, my ultimate goal is to pass on my knowledge. I’ve been quite active in FIRST since the summer of 2005, and I don’t want my experience to go to waste.
I also want to learn as much as I can. That has always been my goal, and always will be. If anything, I’ve learned that winning is fun, but that’s not what matters at the end of the day. When all is said and done, it’s who you met, the connections you made, and the competitions, and time spent with your team building a machine that you can all call your own that you remember with pride. Therefore, I also want to meet lots of cool and fascinating people. What better place to do something like that than on Chief Delphi and at FIRST competitions.
Good luck everyone with your endeavors!
Last year everyone was saying “Are you ready?” and I thought I was as ready as could be. Then, when the GDC was in front of the black curtain, my brain was screaming “I’m not ready!”.
Now I am wondering if I am excited. I say yes but I doubt it will hit me until tomorrow.
My goal for this season is to succeed. I want to succeed in helping my team. I want to succeed in helping other teams. I want to succeed in spreading FIRST into the community.
I am quite excited for this year’s kick-off. It’s hard to believe it will be my 7th FRC season! This year, I’m excited to bring a few of the young ladies on my FLL team to watch Kickoff with the big kids. Best wishes to everyone this season!!! …and please take advantage of a full night of sleep tonight… it might be your last full 8 hours of rest for the next 6 weeks. :]
Oh man! It just hit me…this is my 7th season…thanks for pointing that out Brittany! :ahh:
I am definetly excited about Kickoff! Everyone has been preparing, training, and getting ready. It is at Kickoff where you begin. It’s like the start of a race, you’ve got your car all tuned up, practiced a few moves, and now your ready to see the competition; to see what your up against.
As for a skill,
Last year, since i was the only programmer, i learned everything by myself and from scratch. This year, since i know the fundementals i want to learn more advanced programming concepts, and teach the old ones to the new programmers.
I’m really excited. It’s senior year for me, and I’ve been with Team 2503 since its inception.
The last two years I’ve been responsible for our website, and everything associated with it (pictures, etc). Never got very far with it at all, even though I’m a great web developer. [It’s just that when I have to design a website along with building it, the design part catches me up. 
]
For this year, I’ve proclaimed for the last few months that I’ll be team captain. I don’t have great ‘leadership’ skills, but I really want to be central to the robot design and construction, and drive team; things I was left out of (at least partly) in the past years. I really want to do design/build team because I kid you not, 99% of the things I suggested last year (things that basically every team included, like belt ball pickup) were shot down by our then senior-topped team, who proceeded to include their radical, over-thought-out features. Needless to say, we ended up in 47th place.
I’m gonna have to watch the kickoff on NASA TV at home because we’re not going to the kickoff event. Our coach’s aunt passed away recently, and her funeral is tomorrow. A local rookie team is bringing our KOP up to us.
That’ll be all. ::safety::
Wait. Kickoff is soon? When is it?!
Of course I’m excited! I’m already excited for the robots to be shipped off so the competitions can begin again.
This year I am planning on letting all of the other fantastic mentors do what they do best with the robot, and I’m going focus my attention on the awards. I am hoping to improve my herdingskills.
Wow. Me too.
Ah yes, me too. It’s hard this year, I founded the team a few years back and now I find myself an entire continent apart. They seem to be getting there stuff together, the teachers have stepped up in part of the administrative roll that I filled while I was there. And we now have two new captains both of whom are charging forward.
I can’t wait to see them and their robot.
(I still run the server so I will get to see all the bytes)