Tl;dr (because I know I’m gonna go on for way longer than you care): I was bad at sports. Later found out I was bad at robots, too, but that didn’t stop me.
In elementary school, most kids play sports. Most aren’t very good, but often don’t realize it until later. I was somewhere between horrible and mediocre for a while, and then it was pretty clear that as other kids grew older, they actually got better at throwing, catching, and running. Not me. I was clearly bad, and never going to get better. This wasn’t a put your mind to it thing. I was just bad.
So, what’s an awkward kid in elementary school who suddenly realizes all of their soccer participation trophies mean nothing to do? Find something else that he’s better at. I first got involved with FIRST in 5th grade. My school had an FLL team run by the science teacher. This was my alternative activity.
I had the benefit of this being a very new team. Nobody knew what they were doing. Not me, not the older students, not the teacher. We learned together over time, and I got better. Unlike sports, I learned that I actually could get better with hard work, determination, and time.
The team got better as a whole, and I was pretty good at building LEGO Robots. Then, people on the team starting getting a lot better than me. This was a bit demoralizing because I had finally found something I was good at, and suddenly I was in the bottom to middle of the pack again.
So, I branched out. I started doing strategy, preparing our judged submissions, and keeping everything organized and everyone on task. That was a niche I could fill, and I enjoyed it. Eventually, elementary and middle school were over, though, and it was time to figure out what was next for me as a person. At times I was a good student (and at times I certainly was not), but one thing that brought me continued satisfaction was robots. So, I selected a high school based on one that had a comprehensive robotics team and program.
The first time I saw FRC robots up close, I was hooked. I ran into another hurdle, though. I knew how LEGO robots worked but had no idea how these huge 120 lbs. machines did their thing. As a high school freshman, I remember the team captain approaching me asking what subteam I was interested in, and I was at a loss. I didn’t know how to program, I didn’t know much about electrical/wiring, I could use a drill – but that was about it. Again, finding myself at the bottom to middle of the pack.
But I didn’t know anything else. Robots are the only where I really feel like I excelled. So, I again searched for my niche. We had good programmers. We had good builders. We had good designers. However, the team lacked robust organization and logistical operations.
I emerged as the go-to person for non-technical things on the team. Chairman’s. Outreach. Events. Travel logistics. Strategy. Meals. Merchandise. If it had little to do with the robot, my hands were in the project.
This was hard to explain to people for a while. “Oh, you do robotics. So, you want to be an engineer?” “Well no, not really.” “So what do you do on the team?” “Everything non-technical.” “But…isn’t it a robotics team?” It was in these conversations that the More Than Robots theme really started to take shape for me.
It didn’t have to be robotics. It could have been any program, and I would’ve taken on a behind-the-scenes logistical/operational role. But robots are shiny, fast, and often have LEDs. They captured me. More so, though, a robotics team is where I first really felt comfortable being myself.
As I joined the FRC team, I also realized that I could fill some needs in the community beyond my team. I remember as an FLL student, there were always a really limited number of resources available for teams. Outside of the official content that FIRST provided. So, I started making my own. Then, after just days of my first FLL resources being released, I saw them being accessed in dozens of countries. That’s the moment I knew I really found my niche – putting institutional knowledge to work to create resources to benefit teams. I still create those resources, though I find myself with a lot less time to maintain them these days.
I also realized that another aspect of robotics that I love is the events. I love the logistics of events. Call me crazy. So, as a high school student I started volunteering for FLL and FTC. I rose through the ranks of volunteering, running multiple events and Judge Advising every weekend of the FLL season. I fell in love with volunteering. Nothing brought me more joy than being able to inspire kids that, just like me, finally found the activity where they feel at home.
As I graduated high school, I wanted to continue. Since FIRST College was a bust, though, I knew that volunteering was my path. I now volunteer at six FRC Regionals a year, and pre-Covid, did plenty of FLL, too.
Not only is being at events when I’m the most fulfilled, but it’s also where I spend time with some of my best friends. People talk about their “camp friends” – those you see for two months out of the year and have magical moments when you reconnect. I have them, too, but I also have a group of my FIRST friends. We can show up at an event, everyone knows their role, and we have a great time–even if it wouldn’t seem like it from all of our complaining. Our complaints, though, are always about how we can make the program better, because serial volunteers in FIRST are some of the kindest, hardest working people I’ve ever met.
I’m now on a Regional Planning Committee, run an offseason, and volunteer every free minute I get (currently between remote interviews for an event this weekend, which I’ll also be attending IRL as the Lead Queuer).
I know it sounds hokey, but FIRST is more than robots. FIRST changed my life dramatically for the better, and my sleep schedule dramatically for the worse. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It’s a good thing I was so bad at soccer – who knows where I’d be in my life otherwise.