Thread created automatically to discuss UFH Honoree: Christina Alzona.
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Name: Christina Alzona
Date Honored: 03-14-2005
Years involved w/FIRST: 7
FIRST Team(s): Bausch &, Lomb Incorporated/Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. &, Edison School of Engineering &, Manufacturing High School (0073), Retlif Testing Laboratories &, Sachem Central School District (0263), BAE Systems/AUDIBLE.COM/Verizon/Bad Boys From Bay Shore Ltd. &, Bay Shore High School (0271), Smithtown Schools (0810)
Role: FIRST Volunteer
Quote: “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” -Walt Disney
Bio: Christina Alzona is well known in college FIRST robotics. Working with a variety of teams over the years, she has also served as the Assistant Regional Director for the SBPLI Regional.
Christina had this to tell us about her favorite FIRST memory: “My favorite FIRST memory was Nationals in 2001. It was my second time at Nationals but the first year that I had gotten involved with Chief Delphi and the Tigerbolt Community. I had met Joseph Ross, Matthew Leese, Ken Leung, Andy Baker, Patrick Dingle (and the list goes on…) for the first time and it felt like I had known them forever. The college folks went to Pleasure Island that night to get acquainted and it was just an incredible experience. I remember rooting for all these people’s teams as if they were my own. It was just a wonderful time meeting everyone and that’s when I knew that FIRST wasn’t just a club or hobby but a real aspect of my life.”
Christina also has a host of accomplishments over the years. “Ever since I started robotics in ’99, I knew it was a program I wanted to stay involved in. Once I graduated high school I mentored team 271 and started helping out with the Long Island Regional. After adjusting to college life and a role as a mentor, Michael and I decided that we wanted to help out a rookie team. We went to our school (Stony Brook University) and got a little monetary support to help start team 810. At that point, I was asked to be on the Board of Directors for SBPLI and to be on the Long Island Regional Planning Committee. Michael and I helped run team 810 in the 2001-2002 school year and I was the Event Assistant at the Long Island Regional. The following academic school year, I transferred to the Rochester Institute of Technology where Matthew Leese saddled the job of President of the FIRST Robotics Club on me. I mentored team 73 for the next two years and continued to support the Long Island Regional by supplying volunteers and continuing to the Event Assistant. Matthew, Jeff, and I pushed to get a RIT Regional (which obviously happened) and I will be volunteering there as well. Although I am finally graduating college this May, I hope that this list will continue to grow.”
Lastly, Christina had some advice for our community of FIRSTers: “My advice to FIRST-ers would be to follow your dreams. If there’s anything that FIRST has shown us, it’s that anything is possible with determination, hard work, and some good friends. Going through FIRST, I have done things I never thought I would do. I’ve realized that FIRST has all the things that one can strive for in life: accomplishment, friendship, family, hard work, success (regardless of whether or not you win), and happiness. It’s a place to grow, to find what you’re good at and make friends that will last forever (like my best friend Joseph Ross). FIRST is just the beginning, there’s so much all of you can become if you all follow your dreams.”
Congratulations to Christina Alzona for being honored as the next Unsung FIRST Hero.
Nominated By: confidential
