I will not be explaining what FIRST is or what the Robotics competition is about. I will be relating what interesting things happened on my trip and my thoughts about them. I was asked why I wrote this, and to be truthful, I’m not really sure why. I susppose this trip was a bit special to me since I hardly travel at all. Also, going to a national robotics competition is not something you can do everyday. I’ve tried my best not to leave out any major details, and I’ve tried to keep everything as “reflecting my thoughts” as possible. However, I can’t say that I have removed a detail here and there to keep some of my more personal thoughts to myself. Anyway, below are my log entries and also some image scans. I hope you will enjoy reading this!
- Day 1 - (Wednesday, April 9, 2003)
- Day 2 - (Thursday, April 10, 2003)
- Day 3 - (Friday, April 11, 2003)
- Day 4 - (Saturday, April 12, 2003)
- Day 5 - (Sunday, April 13, 2003)
Here are the image scans:
(If the image shows up really small in your browser, hover your mouse over the image and click the “expand” button that shows up)
- Flight Ticket to Houston - Continential flight ticket to Houston from Philadelphia.
- Flight Ticket from Houston - Continential flight ticket from Houston to Philadelphia.
- Back of Ticket - The backside of the Continential flight ticket.
- Luggage Sticker to Houston - Continential luggage sticker to Houston from Philadelphia.
- Luggage Sticker from Houston - Continential luggage sticker from Houston to Philadelphia.
- Luggage Tag to Houston - Continential luggage sticker to Houston from Philadelphia.
- Luggage Tag from Houston - Continential luggage sticker from Houston to Philadelphia.
- Autodesk Sticker
- Autodesk Wristband - this image was shrunk a lot and the color is off. It snaps on to your wrist.
- Royal Assault Button 1 - These were the buttons that our team was handing out to other teams. This was “my” button. When my team was making them, I slipped in my name before they put the cover on :).
- Royal Assault Button 2 - This is the second version of the button.
- FIRST wristband - all FIRST competitors had to wear this wristband. It served as a security thing (so guards knew that you were involved in FIRST) and also as a means of getting FIRST provided lunches. There were tabs on the band that you had to rip off in order to get these crappy meals. The team dinner tab was still left on because it wasn’t used. (Rather, there was this ticket for admission to the team dinner). This wristband really sucked because once it was on, you couldn’t get it off again. If you cut it off, it would have been void (or so the FIRST people said). So on the last day, I ripped this off.
- Six Flags Day 1 - All FIRST competitors got free passes to Six Flags for 2 days. This was my ticket for the first day: Friday, April 11th.
- Six Flags Day 2 - This was my ticket for the second day: Saturday, April 12th.
- Chesapeake Chairman’s Award Pin - My team won the Chairman’s award at the Chesapeake regional. However, our mentors handed out these pins during the nationals.
- Fiesta Supermarket receipt - Down in Houston, there is this “have-it-all” supermarket called Fiesta. They have absolutely EVERYTHING! I went with my friends and bought a drink. Someone else bought a camera and charged it on me.
