When I first joined the Flying Platypi, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. My first impression of the team had me thinking that FRC was all about building a robot and making friends, but I quickly figured out that FIRST is much more than just that. I joined in October (which is the off-season) so I was first led to believe that the time required was about 2 hours a week. This is definitely not the case when it comes to FIRST Robotics.
After about a month of meeting one night a week, the official FRC season started and I was along for the ride. That Saturday I got my first taste of what being on a robotics team really meant. The team spent the whole day coming up with ideas to solve that year's challenge. I was amazed at the way some of my teammates solved problems. Once the robot was designed, the real work started and we began to meet at Blue Ridge Tool, the machine shop where our team builds. I had never been in a machine shop before so I didn’t know what to expect. When I walked through those doors and saw the mills and lathes and other machines I never knew existed, I was instantly hooked and had to learn more. Although I spent most of my time with the programming group, I still got to use the machines and experience things that I had never done before.
After 6 short weeks and many, many hours of building and programming, it was finally tournament time and all the work the team put into the robot was going to be put to the test. When I walked into the arena at my first tournament I was shocked to see all the teams and people working hard to put the finishing touches on their robot to get it ready for competition. The tournament was a blast and I met lots of new people and made a few friends.
Now finishing up my third year of FIRST and looking back at what I have learned, I see that being on a robotics team is about much more than just the robot: it’s about the skills you learn, the experiences you gain, and sharing that with others. I have learned not only how to work with a team, but how to become a better leader, how to teach other students, and how to be a gracious professional. FIRST has helped me decide what I want to major in as well as given me many opportunities to try new things I never would have thought possible before joining a FIRST team. I have found my time on The Flying Platypi very rewarding and I plan to continue in FIRST for my senior year of high school. After I graduate I plan on coming back as a mentor to help sustain my favorite FIRST team.
-Daniel
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