Loitering to leadership

One year, you’re just the parent hanging around in the background, watching students grow, helping when needed, and slowly becoming part of the FRC family.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changes. You find yourself leading the team, while watching your son step into leadership too.

And all of this happened in the face of two unexpected tragedies within five days. There was no time to prepare—just a team of students who needed their adults to show up.

As a parent, I learned that leadership is about so much more than robotics. As a student, my son learned that leadership means stepping up, supporting others, and continuing forward even when things are hard.

What started as simply “hanging around” became something much bigger—a family, a responsibility, and a purpose.

From loitering to leadership. From parent to mentor. From student to leader. Through the hardest moments, we’ve learned what “Stronger Together” really means.