Who’s having the “Best Week EVER?” tm
… my vote goes to anyone involved in FIRST Robotics!
I’ve just returned from my second trip to the National FIRST Robotics Competition in Atlanta, GA. This year, I definitely had a better idea of what to expect but the energy and passion of everyone involved in FIRST never ceases to amaze (and inspire) me!
So I now present the weekend in pictures:
For those of you living under a rock (or don’t listen to the news much) downtown Atlanta was hit pretty hard by a tornado last month, and I must say, several buildings looked rather beat up… okay, that’s perhaps the understatement of the year. But at least the hole in the GA Dome was fixed and folks were able to find other hotel arrangements - I cannot imagine what would have happened if such a large even would have been canceled! Anyway, a shot of the downtown skyline (courtesy of Ash ‘09, from whom I’ve stolen many pics since she let me share her camera over the weekend - THANKS, ASH!)…
Nerd trading cards… (that’s what Ash called them)…
Life-size cardboard cutout of Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST and President of DEKA…
I became a little obsessed with Team Pink this year (and, I might add, they did have a nice robot!)…
Highlight of the weekend #1… George H.W. Bush speaking at the Opening Ceremony… he pauses and looks up from his script, briefly scanning the thousands of fanatical FIRST participants… “It’s like the WWF - but for smart people!”
He also told the audience to “Go invent something to help your country.” But I didn’t find that nearly as entertaining. 
Sidenote - by Friday afternoon, at least one team had created buttons that read “FIRST - It’s like the WWF but for smart people!” Check out the banner on the Blue Alliance website for another example of how quickly people have adopted this accidental(?) slogan.
Future Oliner Jeffrey “stalks” Dean to get his shirt autographed… 
Highlight of the weekend #2… No one told me that my simple blue nametag had *so* much power! I had “all access” to the floor during competitions - and even though I’m a robotics idiot, I still thought it was amazingly cool and fun.
And Rebecca (potential Class of 2012 and member of the Team #111) doing an awesome job driving the WildStang robot to victory in the qualifying rounds…
Highlight of the weekend #3… Oh yeah, and in the middle of it all, I chopped off most of my hair to donate to Locks of Love. Coming home with a 10 inch ponytail in my suitcase seemed weird too!
By the way, congrats to all who made it to Nationals and especially to Nik, Emily, Chris, Jeffrey and Rebecca!
That’s all for now,
Allison
allison.bahme@olin.edu
781-292-2203
IM: OlinAdmission
http://www.olin.edu/
Nice pix! By the time that picture was taken, Friday afternoon, I had pretty much slept a total of 16 hours the whole week…
FIRST is fun but exhausting!
Comment by Jeffrey — April 23, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
Yay! I look so serious in that picture… Allison, Pink is also a favorite team of mine (their robots are so elegant) and I traded some signature tie dye for one of their bright pink shirts. And I just submitted my deposit so I am no longer “potential Class of 2012.”
Comment by Rebecca — April 24, 2008 @ 7:33 pm
Our school participates in the FTC (smaller robots) competition, and we almost got into Atlanta, but had a little mishap with interference at a rather disorganized tournament in Manhattan, NY. FIRST robotics is extremely fun, and I’m looking forward to next year’s new kit for the FTC, since I’m our team’s programmer and there’s a lot of new sensors and things. (We are team 28 for any other FTC members).
Anyway, I’m very interested in Olin (my first choice so far), and am very impressed by the large info booklet I got recently. Any reason for it being in a static bag? I’m going to show it to a fellow classmate who has also caught “the Olin fever”.
:)
Comment by Gavin Langdon — April 25, 2008 @ 12:15 am
Rebecca - duly noted (and updated)! and YIPEEE!
Comment by Allison Bahme — April 25, 2008 @ 7:58 am
Gavin - Best of luck for next year! I hope to see you in Atlanta…
And as for the static bags, well, they’re just cool! And handy/reusable. And it did catch your attention…
Oh and thanks for spreading the “Olin fever!”
~Allison
Comment by Allison Bahme — April 25, 2008 @ 8:00 am
Thanks Allison! Nationals has been a crazy ride for me every time I’ve been and I only got around to the Olin booth my first year in 2006. Of course, since visiting the Olin booth my team pulled off a divisional victory hat trick, so maybe that’s a good thing?
Also, we at The Blue Alliance adopted the slogan a little further: http://www.cafepress.com/thebluealliance
Comment by Chris Marra — April 25, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
Hey FIRST Kids,
You should so mentor FIRST teams when you get here. We could really use your help. Feel free to email me if you have questions about being a FIRST kid at Olin or if you just have questions NameIJustPostedWith@students.olin.edu (or Ask Allison, she’ll set you up with my email. I don’t like spam much or I’d post it. )
-Ash
Comment by Ash — April 25, 2008 @ 6:31 pm