I know alot of people have problems with 1st gear engauging smoothly at a stop with the subaru 5mt.
So thinking about it for a bit I think I maybe came up with why. Let me know what you think
Subaru transmissions are a little odd. Gears one and two have the shifter fork on the layshaft of the transmission (thats the one attached to the clutch) so the gears spin freely on this shaft. The others are mounted on the driveshaft like most transmissions. However this means that when at a rest, if the teeth to engauge the gear arent lined up, there is no way to realign 1st and second without rolling the car. The position of the gears is linked to the position of the wheels. The other 3 gears are attached to the layshaft so when the motor spins, it can rotate the orientation of the gears to the synchros. This would allow the alignment of the gears to change and engauge easily.
Anyhow just thinking out loud. Hope it makes sense.

Hmmm, I dunno but I used to own a 90 Cavalier and the 1st and 2nd were even tougher to shift into compared to the subie I drive now.

-Alan (Another MY98 Owner)

A nice thought, but it doesn't work that way.

A Subaru M/T has 1st and 2nd driving gears machined as part of the Main (input) Shaft. The 1-2 shift fork moves a slider over the Driven Shaft engaging either 1st or 2nd gear (which, in neutral, spin freely on the Driven shaft). 3rd, 4th, and 5th, gears are all keyed to the Driven Shaft and their Driving gears spin freely on the Main Shaft (in neutral).

If you have a problem shifting into 1st it is likely the Main Shaft hasn't stopped spinning, or for some reason the 1st gear synchro is binding. When synchros are new they tend to bind, when they wear in and stop binding the synchro teeth get worn and are less effective. It's a Catch 22. When I learned to drive a M/T I was taught to stop the Main Shaft by shifting into 2nd or 3rd before I tried to shift into 1st or Reverse.

Hey that's what I do too always! :)

Seems very much easier to shift to reverse after shifting to 2nd then 3rd. For 1st, when it's tougher to shift into, I just shifted to 2nd/3rd then back to 1st with no problem at all.

And I thought it's just me :P

-Alan (Another MY98 Owner)

I am SO trying that.