![[Yin Yang]](http://d5robotics.org/Styles/FreshStart/YinYang.png)
Currently I'm a junior at Dutch Fork High school and hope to graduate in 2009. I'm part of a program known as "STEM", which is an accelerated learning course focusing on Science and Math. Currently attending AP Biology, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science, AP World History, and Honors Language Arts, I'm set to receive almost a full year of college credit by the time I reach Junior year. That's considering I pass, of course :-)
Apart from school, my life mainly consists of computers and robotics. Although I'm also part of the science team, I've taken a short break this year, participating in only one event because of the time taken from presiding over D5. As for computers, I'm heavily interested in programming. However, my time lately seems to be taken up from simple browsing and chatting. The languages I've learned over the years range from C/C++ and PHP to BF and CSS. One of the greatest examples of my work, I believe, is the site you see before you.
Among my interests, I'm also a very strong advocate of a few "essentials". For one, I strongly encourage the use of Open Source software, while also not being a Nazi about such things. I still use Windows XP Pro for my work simply due to the fact that it's a superior product for my uses. I use Firefox, while continuing to support IE for all of my websites to every detail. I'm whole-heartedly against DRM and corporate control of privacy/content rights.
Search for me on Google. Just do it. Wait! My name is not "CJ Corsi". It's "Cjmovie" for all intent of purpose for the internet. Most results are in direct relation to me. You can find my touch on many website forums, both asking and answering questions. I've dabbled on Mega-Tokyo for Operating Systems development and XGameStation for embedded hardware learning, among other places.
So how in the world did I end up here, anyways? It's a long story that I guess I'm going to share with you, seeing as I have nothing better to do right now. You see, it's a bit different from all the other people here. I've been following the program for many years past, waiting for the chance to join. Now that I'm able to, I'm taking full control of my chance to be a part of the FIRST FRC program.
Since the early age of 11, I've been in one FIRST program or another. While attending Crossroads Middle School, one of the people on the bus happened to mention something about a "Robotics Club". Unsure of what it was on both our ends, we ended up at the first meeting, of the first ever year, for the Lego Robotics Club in the entire school district. After hearing a bit about it, I decided to join. The year went by, the competition went by, and all was well. At least, for a while.
Since Crossroads is a 6th-grade-only school, the following year I attended Dutch Fork Middle School. However, they had no FIRST team! It didn't take long for me to find a teacher that was willing to sponsor a team. He had already heard of the program and liked it, but with a group of previous-year participants he was fully convinced. The year began with a large enough turnout for two full teams to be formed: Moose-Tech and Triple Vortexes. The competition went by for 7th grade, and soon, 8th grade. But it wasn't enough anymore
While attending the competition in 7th grade, I stumbled on a local FRC team's presentation of their robot. It seemed a lot cooler than Lego's to me! Building robots from scratch, with metal instead of plastic, and programing in C instead of with "blocks". I was hooked, but I didn't know much from it apart from the short presentation I was shown. I was even given a chance to pilot the robot in a 10ft x 10ft pen (under careful observation, of course).
It was that fateful year that I saw a presentation on one of my favorite channels, The Science Channel, documenting the trials and tribulations of around 5 FRC teams at the national level. After overcoming many challenges presented to them, including one team which entirely lacked a robot (!), one rose to victory in the form of the Chairman's Award. At the time I didn't understand what all the awards for the event were. However, I did know enough to understand that they weren't the overall "winning" team, yet they had received the most coveted award for any FIRST team.
A year later, and I'm in another school. This time, Dutch Fork High School. It happens I was lucky enough to be taught by a very eccentric Mrs. Orr, whom was (and is) married to the head of the District's robotics team. After noticing some saw blades painted bright orange on the wall, I ask about them, finding exactly what I expected: FIRST had made it to District 5. I awaited the beginnings of the next season, known now as "Aim High".
The first meeting was soon enough to arrive, hardly a week before kickoff. At the front of the room was a certain person everyone in FIRST should know: Billfred. Being Alumni of the team, he had come back to get it started another year. I was soon put on the programming and electrical teams, and a year began quite smoothly. Almost...
The robot was completed the day of ship. The team had its own share of problems, most stemming from lack of organization, and, in some cases, motivation. After the end of that year, the current team captain called a meeting. Things had gone just slightly wrong that year, but they were going to be fixed. Or so we hoped. 3 meetings later, we had accomplished more than we had the entire year in terms of planning. But it was lost over the summer to nothing.
The next year, I wanted things done right. I didn't want to wait again until the season had started; we'd simply repeat everything again. Being in touch with another rookie member from the previous year, we began to plan. Weakly, but still so. We attempted at least 3 meetings until we finally had people show up. We had previously decided that two things were necessary: Get a plan, and get a leader. It would be a little more complicated this year, however. We had also thought it a good idea to include a president from each represented school, to lower the "dictatorship" feeling the team previously felt. The few attending agreed, and nominations began. I nominated Frederick for Irmo. Allison nominated me for Dutch Fork. In the midst, Mark and Ian were also (self) nominated. A secret-ballot was then run.
The "winners" were Mark and me. I was personally surprised at having won, but at the same time disappointed. I was hoping that Frederick would win the vote, considering the work he had put into getting the team in shape again that year with me. But I didn't need to worry long; Mark, already being head of the Irmo Science Team, stepped down from his position (and eventually the team itself). Frederick soon assumed the position of Irmo "President"*. We had found our fit: I (CJ Corsi) lead from Dutch Fork, and Frederick from Irmo. Even with the disjoint number of students from each school, we held equal positions of authority, which we in turn tried our best to share democratically with the team itself while maintaining order.
Meetings soon picked up pace. After a radical idea to move the team to Frederick's father's warehouse, which I was at first opposed to, they went even faster. On a particular Saturday not too far before December, all of the Robotics-Owned equipment was transported to our new home. And, quite to the surprise of many of us, new members followed. Among them were some of our most dedicated team members. What they lacked in skill, they made up for in spirit. Without them, the team would not be where it is today; for that reason, I'd like to dedicate this paragraph to them (Yeah, I'm so nice).
*President and captain are used interchangeably throughout this biography.I've been asked by more than a few about where my fanciful internet name has come from. Well, it's pretty simple in reality. I always say it's a "long story", but it's not. It's just a horribly simple and silly story. You see, back when AOL was the "only" way to connect to the internet, I needed a screenname. So what do I choose? Well, back in 1995, I didn't really know or care all that much about it. So I just took my nickname ("CJ") and added "movie" onto the end, because a person in my (not-so-close) family was currently working for some movie producers. Voila! And so ends the tale of my name.
I can be reached on GMail and Google Talk through the address "cjmovie AT gmail DOT com". You may also visit my (currently inactive) website, which is http://cjmovie.net/.