Be a Blessing! by Nicholas

Be a Blessing! by Nicholas - February 2020 Scholarship Essay

“The more we bless others, the more we are blessed.” My mom

Many people think I’m crazy for quoting my mom, as kids my age don’t always listen to their advice. I’m different and I’m not afraid to say it. I would like to share with you about a program I have already created that I would love to turn into an official nonprofit organization. My program is called R3: ROBOTS REACHING ROBOTS.

Before I share about R3, let me reveal a little about me. My name is Nicholas Matthews and I am the former team captain of DaMOOse FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) Team 5926. At one of our regional competitions, our team was assigned a “pit area” (a place where we can work on our robot between matches) and next to us on one side was a team from the Detroit area, Dynomite FRC Team 4380. Working on our robot beside them, I could not help but notice that while we had lots of tools, they had very few. We had a nice pit design and they had an old table. We had sponsors and they obviously had little financial support. I realized that I might be able to make a difference, so I created the R3 program to help teams like Dynomite. Leadership skills cannot be taught, they must be learned by experience. I learned by helping kids who were just like me in some ways, but so unlike me in others.

Creating a community service project is harder than it probably seems and I faced several challenges along the way. I learned that I had to create a mission statement, objectives, outline my primary tasks, and produce a PowerPoint presentation to share with my team and the adult mentors. I also developed a logo for my project, wrote a list of goals, and made lots of cold calls to strangers that took me completely out of my comfort zone. Additionally, all of this meant time to research how to approach businesses and compel them to give to a bunch of kids that they didn’t even know. I also had to learn exactly what a mission statement was and how to get organized so I could move forward with Robots Reaching Robots while still doing well in school and finishing up with my Eagle Scout project.

Did I succeed? YES! In the first year (2017), I found five sponsors and Dynomite was able to dramatically improve their robot, won several awards and even got into the finals! The head mentor of Dynomite said, “Nick has shown an extremely high level of leadership and innovation by thinking outside the box to help other FRC teams raise money through an effort he’s termed R3: Robots Reaching Robots. He saw that other teams did not have the same opportunities as his current team. Through his program, our team received funding to increase the capabilities of our robot which led to us having the best year since our team’s inception in 2012. While assisting our team, Nick showed a great level of maturity and professionalism as he interacted with us.”

R3 was also successful in 2018 and 2019 when I found sponsors to donate $1700 to Dynomite. The best part is another member of my team wants to help a team in need for the 2020 robotics season because I will be in college. My community service efforts had a HUGE impact on team 4380 and a giant mind-shift for me personally. I can see now that ONE person can bless others to make a difference and this is priceless.
The main mission of R3: Robots Reaching Robots is that other FIRST Robotics teams will be inspired to use my ideas and plans to begin their own R3 campaign. R3 is working toward the day when teams without sponsors can be helped by other FIRST Robotics teams with the vision and drive to spur on local sponsorship of underprivileged teams.

Nothing has developed my leadership skills and help shape me into the person that I am today like R3 and my FIRST Robotics team. There is no book on how to lead, you just take the opportunities you are given to show others how to become their best selves. No time is a waste when you are showing others the way. The opportunity to be a leader is something that nothing can compare to and "the more we bless others, the more we are blessed". Can you imagine how many smart underprivileged kids can be helped if R3 was an official nonprofit organization?