Fans chanting team cheers, outrageous costumes, buckles and tables, and late nights might not be the first things that come to mind mind when you hear the word robotics. Trust me, when my brother and science teacher approached me about joining the school robotics team, these weren't the first things that came to my mind either. When, admittedly reluctantly, I joined the robotics team my sophomore year of high school, I didn't know exactly what to expect. Although I'm not sure, the more I learned about robotics and the competitive world, the more I started to love it. Although each experience was unexpected and part of the learning curve, I think my knowledge of robotics can be best described by the first team meeting, my first participation in a launch event, my first programming experience and competitions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The best part about the robotics team I was on was that not only was I new to the world of robotics, but so was our entire team. My involvement in robotics also began when a new FIRST Robotics team was forming at my school. With no teachers or students familiar with FIRST Robotics, we were all very unsure at our first meeting. I remember my science teacher sitting us all down with a kit of parts provided by FIRST and saying, "So we have six weeks to turn this box of parts into a robot to compete." » As you might expect, this statement was met with many blank, stunned stares. We knew absolutely nothing about what robotics was or the FIRST Robotics program, but we were about to find out. Since I was an undergrad and had never really dabbled in building or programming, my first year on the robotics team I mostly followed by. I would show up to build sessions, but not fully commit to attending the weekend's competitions. Therefore, I didn't really understand the game until the following year, when I attended a local FIRST Robotics launch event with my team. The main goal of these events was to unveil the game of the year and kick off the building season. The FIRST Robotics coordinators hosted all the local teams in an auditorium at a nearby university and played the official game reveal video, which explained the game that would be played in competitions in which we would build robots to compete. Every year was a new game with new rules. As I entered the auditorium for my first kickoff, I felt a buzz of excitement in the air and the room was filled with chatter. Numerous introductory videos were shown on a screen as the FIRST Robotics coordinators began to get everyone excited. As it was my first kick-off, I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but the feeling of anticipation in the air and the fact that we were all gathered here as a group for a shared passion for robotics began to create my own enthusiasm. . Cheers rang out as the game's reveal video took over the screen and as soon as it ended, teams rushed out of the auditorium to receive their kit of parts and begin their build. Even though I already had a season under my belt, that moment opened my eyes to what this whole FIRST thing was aboutRobotics. For the first time, as we all came together to determine the new game of the year, I felt like I was part of this community. Without any experience or prior knowledge in robotics, I didn't expect to be immersed in programming by my second season. However, since the first year's programmer had graduated, our team needed a programmer and I ended up getting the job. The robot's program is essentially the brain behind the physical structure that allows it to move and function. The program can receive commands from a controller, process those commands, and force the robot to execute them. Using a visual programming language called LabView, I learned how to program the robot. Hours and hours were spent searching for tutorials on how to write a program for the robot. Even though I'm still not an expert in programming, somehow these scattered bits of knowledge I collected have been put together into one coherent program that will hopefully power the robot. The time came to test the robot with the newly written program and everyone was nervous when I activated the program. The tense air filled the room with everyone waiting for the results of my work over the past few weeks. I pushed the robot's control stick forward precariously and almost cried with relief when I saw the robot move with it. Sometimes I thought I would never understand the internal language of robotics, let alone programming. At that point, for me, I felt like I was starting to bring something substantial to the team. Weeks passed and the time came when we had to compete with our fully finished robot. The competitive world of FIRST Robotics completely blew me away when I attended my first competition. I didn't know what to expect and when I first walked into the university gymnasium where the competition was taking place, I was surprised at what I found. A full playing arena was built in the center of the hall with spectator stands on both sides. Loud music and chanting filled the room as teams cheered for their robots and chased them from the stands. A temporary wall stood behind the stands, blocking off a section for the pit area where each team had space to work on their robot between rounds. Different rounds of play were played throughout the day, with each team playing multiple rounds throughout the day. In each round of the game, teams would earn points and the total points at the end of the preliminary rounds determined which teams would advance to the finals. Each team had a driving team that actually drove the robot during competitions. In each preliminary round of the game, your team had to randomly compete in the same alliance with two other teams. There were two alliances for each match and you would work with the other teams in your alliance to win the match. Although my first experience of seeing and learning about the world of first robotics competitions was surely memorable, it was actually one of the later competitions that really stuck with me. Since I had been the programmer of the robot and was familiar with its functions, my team decided that it would be a good idea for me to be part of the piloting team controlling the robot during competitions. Over the course of the season and with many matches under our belt, we had managed as best we could to qualify for the final of a competition. Since the stakes were high in the finale, I worked with a.