Why did you join robotics?

#1

There’s a lot of people here that have done FRC for years, but there are also some new people, where this year is their first FRC season.
It’s always nice to bring attention to something that may not be thought about a lot beforehand, and that’s the reason we joined robotics.
So what made everyone here join robotics in the first place? was it because a friend suggest it, or maybe you just wanted to do something new, I’m sure there are plentiful reasons everyone has to share

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#2

I just joined because my friends were on my high school’s team and I was bored on Saturday afternoons.

Originally I just planned on helping with leadership and business but now I’m planning on studying to be an Aerospace Engineer so… Dope.

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#3

When I was 7 my mom ran a FLL regional, I was hooked then. FLL for 4/5 years, FTC for one year, and FRC as a student for 4 years. I’ve mentored several FLL teams over the years, and currently on my third year mentoring a FRC team. FIRST has given me so much, and the least I can do is try and give back. If I can help shape even one young mind like FIRST did for me, I’d be a happy guy.

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#4

Our teacher received an invite and grant to run an FRC Robotics team back in 2004-2005 when I was in 9th grade and this was 2 weeks into the build season. Needless to say everyone in his classes helped build that robot including myself. I then got hooked and now help Mentor and run the team to this day.

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#5

I get to program a 120 pound robot. Programming doesn’t get more fun than this.

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#6

I joined because I was bribed by ice cream.

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#7

Another local High School had a team (1912 Combustion) which a couple of my friends from Jr. High were on. I was excited by what it entailed from their stories, so I decided I wanted to try to start a team. Luckily, one of the coaches from Combustion moved to my High School the following year, and we started 3946 Tiger Robotics.

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#8

I went to a competition in 2008 for a field trip. I went to a Engineering/Math/Science magnet school, so these were the kinds of field trips we went on.

I had so much fun at the competition, I got back and I told my one friend that he’s going to join robotics with me.

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#9

I joined my FRC team on accident (sorta). Let me explain.

I was new to the district and lived far from the school. Every day after school I had to wait for my mom to pick me up from school around 5:00pm I would usually sit in the library and wait, and one day there was a group of students eating snacks and making like solar powered toy cars. I was hungry so I asked if I could join. Our team was a rookie team then and we had no clue what we were doing, but I stayed because robotics gave me a home. I enjoyed the time I spent with the team because as a new freshman, they were my only friends. I credit myself staying largely to the success of our program. Ending the season ranked 13 in Michigan was ‘cool’ and the experience of being successful was addictive.

TL;DR
I joined because I was hungry and stayed because I belonged.

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#10

I went to my first meeting my junior year because my friend was going and I knew a guy I had a crush on would be there… I ended up joining the team and dated him for 2 years but MUCH more importantly I proceeded to get and Electrical Engineering degree and now I mentor my old team and work on robots for a living! Going to that meeting was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.

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#12

Throughout high school I knew that we had a big robotics program, but I was never interested in engineering, so I never thought to join. I actually remember making fun of my friend in grade 10 when he came back from a week-long absence and was talking about how they just won the world championship. It’s funny because now I envy the fact that he was part of the 2013 team. Anyways, in that 1 year I ended up falling in love with the strategic challenges that FRC presents (design strategy during build season and strategy/scouting at competitions) and I’ve stayed involved ever since.

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#13

I joined Lego League in middle school because both my brothers were in robotics in high school. I wanted to be like them and join. So when I went to high school it was pretty obvious for me to join. My brothers continued to mentor while I was in school and now I mentor the team as well. Went on to get an Mechatronics Degree and working for an automation company.

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#14

I joined robotics because i was incredibly interested in technology, and because i had nothing else to do.

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#15

For the glory of Kamen of course!

I joined 1678 back in 2005/2006 when I went to an engineering career day, they brought in the previous year’s robot and I had one of those “WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME YOU WERE DOING THIS” moments. Still doing it 14 years later.

…Oh wow… I literally have kids on the team that hadn’t been born yet when I joined team 1678… Look at that I made myself feel old.

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#16

volentold in 10 years ago by my Daughter.
Wouldn’t give it up for anything.

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#17

My friends were all busy for a third of the year, so I decided to hop on the wagon.

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#18

A friend of a friend pulled me in during my Sophomore year of HS. Apparently everyone hated doing electrical and they though I would be good at it.
I think they were right.

This is my 8th season in FRC and theres no end in sight!

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#19

I joined the only FTC team in my area (a good 20+ miles away) and my parents were willing to get me there and back for two years. The moment I joined my HS however, I got sucked right into both the FRC and FTC program.

Fun story: With my old team (8702!) I nearly got placed on an FLL team, but the program director decided to move me to the FTC team. Best move he could’ve made for me :slight_smile:

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#20

I grew up in my grandfather’s welding shop, starting at the age of 6. I spent quite a bit of time starting around 12 working in there since I was old enough to actually do things on my own (my grandpa was still there, just didn’t have to watch me that close), and could be trusted not to cut my hand off. I always had a passion of making things, and I participated in Science Olympiad throughout middle school, but decided to try robotics in high school rather than Science Olympiad due to primarily liking the build portions, not the random studying.
Joined the team pretty much as soon as I could in high school and haven’t looked back.

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#21

I was in 8th grade, and a friend of mine who I really respected was a freshman on the team and suggested I join the next year. 234 had a rather rigorous interview process at the time, which I felt very lucky to get through to even be on the team (keep in mind this was 15 years ago–things have changed since then).

I hadn’t made the cut for my school’s FLL team, so I definitely experienced frequent impostor syndrome throughout high school, to the point that I almost considered industrial management as a college major over engineering. When I joined, I’d never done anything like engineering besides a 1-day college engineering camp at Purdue. LEGOs, and cub scout/boy scout woodworking.

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