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Alena Principato
Class of 2012
Lafayette College

I joined Team Nemesis in my freshman year after my brother and sister joined, and my dad became a mentor. I wasn’t sure what I would be able to contribute to the team since I had no idea how to build a robot. However, I discovered that being a part of a FIRST team encompasses much more than this; the efforts of the web, marketing and financial sub-teams all contribute to the team's success.

Being a part of FIRST Robotics Team 2590 was a challenging and rewarding experience.  Freshman year, I put my strong writing and editing skills to use by working on marketing materials and the team’s Internet presence.  Now as the Website Manager, I have taken responsibility for upholding the quality and integrity of written content and graphics that appear on the site. A highlight of my FIRST experience was winning the 2011 New Jersey Regional Best Website Award.  During the 2011 season, we completed a total re-design of the site, incorporating new team branding and using a content management system to make the site more user-friendly.  Re-designing the site all in one season was a big task, but the hard work paid off when we won the award. Overall, I have enjoyed using my organizational, creative and technical skills to contribute to the team.

Other school activities I was involved with include the Literary Magazine and newspaper. My creative pursuits include jewelry-making and card-making. I also enjoy reading and working for the county library system and am interested in the field of information science. Information science is becoming more technologically oriented and my participation in the FIRST program is helping me expand my understanding of technology and website design.