About Me – My name is Ben Fischer. For five years, I participated in the FIRST programs (two years in FLL, two years in FTC, one involved with both) that we all know and love. Although my current commitments leave me unable to currently be involved with First Tech Challenge, I have decided that I do not desire to simply leave FIRST in my rear-view mirror. To give back to the program that gave so much to me, I developed FTC Tips – a subscription service that sends you weekly emails about how to have the best First Tech Challenge experience possible.
Outside of FIRST, I have participated in many different activities, including tumbling, choir, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, and piano. I enjoy staying busy, spending time with friends, and seeing the world. I love recording and analyzing data on many things, especially FTC and professional sports. I also find writing very enjoyable and relaxing (can you tell?).
My FIRST experience – I joined FLL in 6th grade as a member of team 17652 Mustang Machine Makers. Unlike many FIRST students, I didn’t have the option of joining my school’s team since I was homeschooled, but 17652 was a community-based team that was willing to accept me. I had no idea what I was doing the first year, and our season ended at our regional qualifier. I was able to use the first year as a learning experience, and the following two seasons I was able to co-captain the team on its way to the state championship (which the team had never done in its five-year history). We were even able to place 1st in Robot game at our qualifier and 7th at state in the 2018-2019 Into Orbit season. Although I had the option to remain in FLL for a fourth season, I chose to kindly leave and find an FTC team (my FLL team currently had no intention of participating in FTC).
Luckily, my older sister had joined an FTC team the year before, so I was able to join team 9974 T.H.O.R., a community-based team from Johnston, Iowa. In my three years involved with the team, we qualified for the world championship twice (cancelled both times due to COVID-19), and were one of the highest-ranking robots at the state championship all three times. While I was a part of the team, I participated in all areas of the First Tech Challenge program, such as robot design, documentation, outreach, video editing, and scouting.
About FTC Tips – I founded FTC Tips in 2022 to help give back to the community that helped build me. I encourage you to try it out, so that you can have the best possible experience while participating in First Tech Challenge – whether you are a mentor, coach, or student.