The second day of Championships started off with opening ceremonies. Just like Thursday, the Edward Jones Dome was packed with students, parents, and mentors from all levels of FIRST. Unfortunately, I was so wrapped up in what was going on I forgot to take a picture during the actual ceremony. Here's one from the day before. Opening ceremonies looked just like this with only many, many more people:
Both Woodie Flowers and Dean Kamen spoke at opening ceremonies but I'd especially like to highlight what Woodie talked about. I should just come out and say I think Woodie Flowers is absolutely awesome. I had the privilege of meeting him at the North Carolina Regional last year and again at the Peachtree Regional this year and he made a great impression on me. When Woodie talks to you, he always seems genuinely interested in what you have to say; an amazing thing for a man who meets thousands of teens who are all dying just to shake his hand.
This year at opening ceremonies Woodie Flowers talked about the feelings that students in FIRST experience. Sure, anyone who has had any experience with FIRST has heard stories from multiple students about how awesome the program is, how much fun it can be and how much can be learned from it. But what Woodie talked about was a little different; he talked about the doubts that team members can experience, most specifically the "Why am I even doing this?" feeling that can come all to often in the middle of build season (or any stressful time).
Woodie pointed out that everyone has two different "selves"; a "present self" and a "remembering self". The "present self" experiences the stress, the frustration or even anger that is associated with every situation and has to find a way to cope with them. The "remembering self" on the other hand can choose to experience only the joyful or pleasant memories that are associated with any particular event. Woodie then explained that every student (or mentor, or parent) works so hard for FIRST (whether it be through spending extra time at the machine shop, staying up all night writing an essay, taking the time to show a new student the ropes, or even offering to make a pizza run) so our "remembering selves" can look back and enjoy the fruits that came out of our "present selves" hard work.
This message really clicked with me. Being an almost nine-year FIRST student, I've put a lot of my time (and my parent's time) into the program. But through all the work, I can honestly say that some of my favorite memories are in one way or the other related to FIRST.
Anyway, the rest of the day was filled with walking around the pit areas of every level of FIRST and watching matches in the Edward Jones Dome. Finally, it was noon and time for the Dean's List ceremony. I'm not really sure what I expected of the ceremony but when I walked into a huge ballroom with the other finalists and I saw a stage and crazy lights my first thought was "This is incredible". The ceremony itself was really nice, Dean Kamen spoke about the value of all of the finalists; that all the work we put into the program is appreciated by not only him, but the future generations of FIRST students. Then, after more than an hour of speeches, the winners were announced. While I was not one of the winners chosen, I would like to say HUGE congratulations to David Gomez, member of Team #3196 SPORK, on becoming a Dean's List Winner! It's so awesome that someone from North Carolina finally won!
After the winners were announced the ceremony wrapped up pretty quickly and it was time to get to the airport and head home. It was an awesome ( and tiring) two days but I'm so glad I was able to go. Being a finalist was such a huge honor, one that I still can't believe I've received. Let's just say my "remembering self" is incredibly happy.
Huge thanks to:
My parents: For dedicating so much time to FIRST all year round for the last eight years. From helping me google things for my FLL research project, to driving me to all sorts of outreach events, to mentoring the team, my parents are the best parents any FIRST student could ask for. Seriously, they're amazing.
Marie Hopper: For getting me hooked on FLL all those years ago. And for not letting me quit when the boys scared my 11 year old self. I wouldn't even be in FIRST without Marie.
My sister: For showing me how to be a dedicated leader. And fielding the late night "I don't remember how to form sentences, help me please" emails.
All the Team 2655 mentors: Because they're the literal best.
-Annalise
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