Posted: If you read Sam’s post, you could tell things weren’t going well during regionals, but this amazing group of individuals never ever gave up, never backed down, never hung their heads. They waded through the “sea of crisis,” which is what the robot’s name Mare Crisium means, trying to find ways to resolve the problems they were up against. When time eventually did run out and we left the crater for the last time, knowing all too well Mare Crisium would not be on the field again in the finals, they decided to use the remaining time with the robot (it is shipped directly from regional competition to national competition) to find some way to make Mare Crisium reach its potential.
Exhausted from three intense, stressful, emotional days with 13 individuals sometimes crammed into a 10-feet by 10-feet space known as the pit, reaching over each other trying get as much work done on the robot in as little time as possible, they gathered, posed for a team photo and made the decision to jump into another intense three weeks of work to pull Mare Crisium out of the sea of crisis for national competition in Atlanta, GA in April.
But the Wisconsin Regional held some highlights for the BEARs. Kyle was amazing, deemed “button man,” he strode through the pit area making friends, informing people about our team and keeping spirits high.
The Chairman’s Award interview went very well. After all Jenna’s hard work writing essays for the award, she got the chance, along with Andrew, to tell the judges what is truly special about our team. Now, if you know Jenna, you know what a quiet individual she is, yet she practiced her presentation to the judges and she and Andrew (who has spoken to many groups about the team) sailed through the interview effortlessly. Unfortunately, we were up against a power-house team and MORE Robotics won the Regional Chairman’s Award, which is the highest award in FIRST Robotics.
JD and his web team’s hard work on the team website, put our team in the top five best websites for teams at the Wisconsin Regional. Considering this is the second year of development for the website, to me, that is an accomplishment to be proud of. JD himself put in tons of time during the season and during off season to get the site where it is right now. It is definitely an awesome website, one that makes our team look great.
From a mentor’s perspective, as I watched the frustrations and emotions and stress roll over the group during the past few days, I realized how much this group has formed a cohesive unit that can rise above any obstacle in its path. Despite the tension, despite the emotion, they kept moving forward, trying to find solutions. They never gave up.
Even though we are in for a long month as we prepare for nationals, if anyone can find a way to rise above the problems we experienced at regionals, this is the group that can do it.
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