1. My first chance at X-Cup came about the summer that race came through my auto shop teachers hometown in up-state New York. At the start of the next school year, he began to tell us about his experience with all the exciting cars, people, atmosphere, and energy it created during the several hours it was there. Getting us interested as a shop class project idea, we began to work together to be the first ever high school team to participate in the Great Race. We built a one-of-a-kind speedster, raised our own money through events and fundraisers to pay our way as a team, and participated in the next event from Tacoma to Toronto in 1996.
2. X-Cup helped me to learn many skills that I still use today. I quickly learned the importance of teamwork, public speaking, project and budget management, marketing, and the satisfaction of achieving goals we set. These are all skills I believe we all learn at some time, but X-Cup certainly gave me a head start.
3. Team building as a part of X-Cup is certainly unique. It is something special when a group of distinctive individuals come together to participate in the Great Race. A special bond is formed among those individuals on the team that is both hard to describe, and hard for others to understand unless you have been through the experience.
4. My time in X-Cup feels like it was just yesterday. Already over 15 years ago now, X-Cup is a part of who I was then, and who I am today. Probably the biggest thing it left me with is, nothing is impossible with hard work and determination.
5. Exploring America through Great Race X-Cup does broaden your perspective a lot. At 16-years-old, being from a small town and getting to discover America and the diversity of its people firsthand from one town to the next, just makes you realize how genuine people can be in so many wa
