Another notable experience would be in FIRST Vex Competition. At a national qualifier, our team advanced to elimination rounds by pure fluke and opposing malfunctioning robots, and we got a first-round bye, but was eliminated in the following round after two consecutive losses. That was pretty disappointing. However, we figured that we still stood a chance at winning an award based on our community involvement, and watched other teams compete until the awards ceremony. Sadly, the awards ceremony was equally depressing, as awards were distributed without us as a recipient. The last award given was the champion's award, given for "best of show." We were nearly certain that we would not receive this, given our less-than-optimal robot design and lack of FIRST Robotics Competition experience. However, as the MC read the description for the winning team, we realized that the description being read matched many of the responses that we had given to our judges during interview. Just as we were beginning to realize this, our team number was read, and our faces lit up with the realization that we would be going to Atlanta.