In 2006 I went with my dad to check out the FIRST New Jersey Regional. From up high in the stands I had no idea that in a few years I would be down on the field controlling a robot. As a freshman, I joined my school’s one-year-old team. Freshman and sophomore year I learned the ropes, and as a junior, became the CEO, lead programmer, and head driver.
FIRST is a sane person’s nightmare; the competition is extremely complex and time and money are short. I guess that I’m insane then because I love FIRST. My favorite thing about FIRST is that there isn’t just one way to do something. Within each competition, there are a hundred different designs that accomplish the same task. The hard part about FIRST isn’t just thinking of a solution; it’s actually making the solution, and that’s what engineering is all about.
Outside of FIRST I was on the RHS soccer team and spring track team and I love drawing complex buildings and mazes. As the only boy (besides my dad) in a family with a set of triplets plus one, I sometimes go crazy, but I still love them. To show my appreciation for them, I sucked them into FIRST so that they could also experience the joy of not having free time for six weeks.
Eric enjoys smiling a lot.
