Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Well here...

I was a FIRST student for 3 years and love all that it offers for the most part. As soon as I finished high school and went on to college, I took a variety of classes my freshman year. I took as Poli Sci class and now love that area. Engineering is looking less interesting and I have kind of realized that possibly the aspects of FIRST I loved were not related to engineering as much as all the other facets of it.

Anybody ever had similar experiences?

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I had a similar on, but I always knew that engineering wasn't for me. I had known for the longest time I wanted to be a doctor. Still that is mainly because I just loved the science aspect of it plus in my later years I got involved with the animation.

Still if you look around you can probably get a team worked out (if you have to start one) or hook up with a team in your area and enjoy that on the side of you political science studies plus all team don't need people to work on the robot but they need people in other positions. At most colleges and universities there are many engineering majors that would love to get on a team if they know about it or if they are informed about the great things FIRST has to offer.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

This is the best thread ever, in my personal opinion. :D And I'm thrilled that there are people out there who agree with me.

I headed my team for two years. When looking at colleges, I knew that I had zero engineering experience in my three years on the team, but I had gained solid management skills and entrepreneurial insight. With that, I went to Babson (an only-Business college). I am now a junior, focusing in corporate strategy.

I found a local team my freshman year, and in my talks with their manager, I found out that he was leaving and he wanted me to become their new manager (aka, deal with paperwork and administrative details). I was then not allowed to be on that team because I was told by the financiers of the team that "they didn't want a business student tainting the experience for these future engineers". That team no longer exists because they could not find the support.

I firmly believe that the recruitment of students by teams into FIRST is in mismatch with the incentives to become a lifer. Because of how the awards are setup, you not only need people to work on the robot, but teams are also recruiting artists, accountants, animators, presenters, fundraisers, anyone they can get their hands on. Yet, all of the scholarships (save one for an animator) are technology-based. I hope to personally change that in the future, but for now, we have to accept the fact that it is mismatched, use our skills to help out local teams, and hope it will get better.

I also believe that FIRST isn't just about breeding engineers. From the "Impact" part of the website, "FIRST inspires in young people, their schools, and communities, an appreciation of science and technology, and how mastering these skills can enrich the lives of all." The key word here for me is appreciation: we non-science focused people appreciate science and technology, and leave the program feeling less intimidated to working with them in the future to make our communities better for all young people.

Also in the 2003 Summary of Findings, "1 out of 2 FIRST students indicated the likelihood of pursuing science, engineering, and technology careers". Though that may look good against other non-profits in retention rates, I still believe that you can't just serve half the people all the way and call it mission accomplished. I have faith that it can be done, just not right now.

-Jessica B

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Great Topic and great responses. Nice to see you posting again this season Jessica...

I think its often not noticed that the non-engineering skills get the short shrift in FIRST groups. Most times this is not intentional. I know of at least two of the students on my old team who did not pursue technical or engineering careers. I know that they have a much greater respect for engineering and fabrication than anyone not inolved in FIRST their age. How can not help make our society better?

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Hee! :D I feel so loved.

I think/hope its just a matter of lack of manpower on FIRST's part than an actual desire to only serve science/technology students.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I could not help but agree more. Im a junior in high school this year, so im already looking at potential programs and majors for university. I know within myself that i do not have the aptitude to become an engineer. Naturally this doesnt mean im dumb or anything, but that i simply do not have that natural spark or 'gift' that allows me to perform on something that i like, but perform well on it.

I cant help but feel a bit slighted but some of the speaker's comments today about the importance of having engineers as a part of the skilled workforce. I cannot agree anymore with that statement, and I will always have the utmost respect for people who can come up with an abstract idea and push it into reality, but that does not mean FIRST doesnt also inspire marketers, film production people, and yes, even lawyears. The roundtable discussion was good indication of that, as they had the boston globe columnist come in and discuss how relavant gracious professionalism was in the workforce today.

There are a certain select few on this earth that possess everything to better people's lives, with a technical expertise and the interpersonal/marketing abilities to generate interest. That in my view is what FIRST could be to many people, much more than just engineers or scientists. Which is part of what the Chairman's program encourages everyone to do. FIRST has given me engineering experience where I likely would never have gotten any elsewhere and I am extremely thankful for that. But dont forget the non-engineers who help out too, whether it be the lawyers that draft safety laws in the factory workshops or the PR people who help make sure that a fantastic idea that could change people's lives is known! =)

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Good Thread.

I entered FIRST my Sophmore year in High School, and thought I wanted to do engineering for the rest of my life... I was wrong. My First semester at Wentworth Inistitute of Technology was pretty bad. I lost all motivation when I found out what engineering really entailed. I ended up failing math and finishing up the semester never to return.

I say this to make a point, you may think that what ever you think you want to do in high school is what your going to do for the rest of your life, guess what... It's not. I though about my expirence on 151 and realized I got more than just engineering knowledge out if it. I relaized that I had learned the skills to become a good leader, a better public, speaker, and lastly a much better videographer.

This is my focus during my off semester I am making a video about my team through out the competition season. Sorry I am jumping all over the place, I guess what I am trying to say is that, you may think you love something more than anything in the world and nothing else will do... you have 70-80 years of your life ahead of you, live it like you want to live it. Not sure if that makes any sense but whatever.

-Aaron

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Yup.. this thread is for me too. I love robots, I love FIRST... but engineering??.. No. I can already tell that's just not something I want to be doing 10 years down the road. That's probably why I do graphics/animation/scouting on the team... and I enjoy it. I could have chosen that road of working on electronics or drive train my freshman year, but I went where my true interests lie. You just gotta go with what you feel because you don't want to end up 1/2 through college only to discover your true interests lie in a field totally different than your major :ahh: Now, it does seem like that the non-engineer-bound people do get the shaft sometimes... but I guess that's more of a team issue.

So... at the moment I'm browsing colleges, finding out if they offer any computer graphics majors... and just doing what I wanna do. I know the world needs more engineers, but FIRST isn't all about engineers and robots... that's why it's so great.

To all those who are not interested in an engineering field - do not be ashamed, there are many :) Tell us your story.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

This thread is me, as well.

I have always loved tinkering with things, my dad has always fixed things rather then replace them, and had me help him. So building the robot was a really cool thing for me. But I started up into higher math, it started to really kick my butt. I was looking for something else, and found emergancy medicne. I am currently an EMT and probally going to VCU to continue in medicine, probaly to be a ER nurse, but perhaps a PA or even a doctor (but 7 more years of school isnt that appealing to me).

I love FIRST, and the challange of figureing out the game and making the things work, but getting down into the 'real' enginnering of actual dimensions and measureing stresses, I start to get lost. I can picture the actions of the forces in my head and get a good idea, but can't follow when trying to calculate them.

So I found something else that is a challange, changes often, and I enjoy. FIRST still had a large impact on me, more then most people will ever realise from where I am now. I'm starting to ramble as it is late and I am tired so I will finnish this and goto bed.

I am a non-engineering major who still loves FIRST.

Wetzel

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I'm glad that some universities offer scholarships that aren't just focused on engineering (through FIRST). It gives some of us a chance at financial aid... :)

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

There aren't many of us out there who love both English and FIRST.

But I can definitely say that while that may be my area of study, FIRST still lets me learn a little bit about engineering in the meantime.

Maybe there aren't any famous English teaching/majoring FIRSTers yet... maybe we'll have to change that. ;)

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I'm a dual major Computer Science (programming, not really engineering IMHO) and History at Syracuse University myself. I just don't have the engineering mindset/whatever. I just like the program :) - it's fun!

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

If i'm not mistaken I think Jason Morrella was an English teacher.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Yeah I love FIRST and every thing its is about but as far as a major I am a Computer Animation Major but now that I think about it FIRST works with Computer Animation

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Which scholarships are you talking about (besides the animation one for the art school and the teacher scholarship)?

Last time I checked (5 minutes ago), it was mostly science-technology based, and for specific schools for the most part. 5 million dollars or not, the scholarships are worthless unless they're filled. I don't know what the exact coorelation is, but maybe there should be some research on the normal costs of these schools, the average income of the towns that the students who are encouraged to apply come from, and what kind of a dent the scholarships actually do.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

There are some engineer-major specific scholarships, but there are others that just require you to have been on a FIRST Robotics Team. However, as you mentioned, the engineer-specific scholarships seem to be worth a lot more (like full tuition) than other general ones.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

And if you dig a little deeper into the descriptions for the "you only have to be on a FIRST team to apply" scholarships, the schools specialize in science & tech related fields (except for that one Christian school).

Another good research topic would be to plot these schools on a map, see the regions in which students are applying, and see the schools that aren't getting their scholarships fulfilled. It may be that a certain section of the nation is applying and won't apply to schools on the other end of the nation because of family issues or lack of funds for transportation.

Again, its all about the impact that scholarship would make.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I stand very corrected. Jason Morella serves as a fine role model for English-loving FIRSTers.

Maybe we'd ought to find someone better at basketball, though? :yikes:

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I was involved with FIRST for 3 years and loved every aspect, however I knew that engineering wasnt for me due to my problems with math and physics. To be honest however, I wasn't quite sure anything was for me. I didn't want to try engineering and then blow someone up because I'm horrible at it. It's kind of like not deciding to become a chef, because you suck so bad at cooking that you would burn a salad. I did know two things, I wanted to do something business like in the entertainment, or music industry, and I knew I didn't have alot of money to spend getting there. So here's my story, I am attending the community college of Rhode Island, with no regrets. I am earning good grades working on my general business associates degree, and saving money. I plan to transfer after my graduation in 2005 to a big business school, and minor in entertainment and events management and see where I go from there. I'm thinking on the three B's right now, Berkely, Babson, or Bryant.
Loved FIRST, loved the experience, loved the people, loved the concepts. LOVED EVERYTHING. However, when it comes to building, I'm just a hacksaw peon waiting for my next piece of metal to cut, I leave the funcionability problems to everyone else.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I'm glad I finally came into this thread to read. I realized late in my first semester at college, that engineering may not have been the reason I enjoyed FIRST. I was involved all 4 years of high school, and the last two I was very serious with my driver tasks. However, while taking engineering labs in college, I have noticed that I never actually took part in the fabrication and building, and enjoyed the logistical parts of engineering moreso than anything else.
Although, I very much enjoyed Robotics, and engineering. I am still pursuing a childhood dream of becoming a doctor, and tied it in with engineering through a major of Bioengineering in the medical school track.
I have considered trying to find something on the logistical end that I so much enjoyed about FIRST, however it has been difficult trying to tie in medicine with that.
Best of Luck to anyone who found a small aspect of FIRST other than engineering. I hope you are able to tie in your major with something you enjoy.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I'm really loving all the responses that there have been to this thread...good to see everyone coming out of the woodwork :)

I was putzing around today in the rulebook section of the FIRST site, doing some research for a possible post in a Chairmans Award thread, and I came across this...

The FIRST mission is to change the way America’s young people regard science and technology and to inspire an appreciation for the real-life rewards and career opportunities in these fields.

and

The Chairman’s Award was created to keep the central focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition as our ultimate goal for transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encourage more of today’s youth to become scientists, engineers, and technologists.

Which makes me want to pose the question to the teams who are doing their Chairmans Award now...how many students that you know are planning on going into engineering are the ones actually compiling the Chairmans Award? It would make sense that they wouldn't be focusing their energies here at this point in time.

:D YET ANOTHER good idea for a study would be the breakdown of the functions of students on teams throughout the year.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

FIRST got me to love working with people and learning new things. Granted, I love learning how things work, but there are better people than I. I loved talking to scouts and judges, answering questions from news reporters and students alike.

I'm in Commerce and Engineering, learning the business end of the engineering world. FIRST really showed me what I was good at and what I needed to work on.

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

Yes, Jason Morrella was an English teacher, as was I. (I, however, gave it up and went back to school for an engineering degree under the idea that engineering couldn't be as difficult as teaching 8th graders.)

For those that are into English, I'm curious what your favorite genre/time period is. My personal preferences are the Renaissance and Middle English.

indieFan

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

I'm SOO happy this post it here!!
I have been in FIRST for 3 years now, and I'm a junior. IEverytime I talk to someone about FIRST, people ask me what kind of engineer I want to be, my general reply is "no way, that's just not me." I'm not a engineer person, sure, I like helping putting the robot together, helping maintain and repart it, but I will never be an engineer. I see what out engineers do and almost faint. There's no way I could ever be an engineer and do all the math and work. I'm currently looking at marine biology for a major, and if there's a team near or from my college (whatever it will be) I will DEFINETLY help, and I woudn't trade the experience for ANYTHING. FIRST is about more than science and technology, it's like any group or people working together and using various skills. I have learned how to speak publicly ( i used to freak out, now i do it 2-3 times a week) and how to deal with people and teenagers (yahh go us!). I have learned to fraternize and suck up without being obvious (:p) and had immeasureable amounts of fun. It's good to see scholarship money for non-engineering major. And its good to see a post about it and know I'm not the only one!!

Re: Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST
 

This thread has been long overdue...

Currently right now I am a sophmore at the University of New Hampshire Dual majoring in Justice Studies/ Psychology. This was a far cry from what I originally stated on my applications to each school during my senior year at high school. I was accepted to the BU's, Penn State's for engineering but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do yet with my life. So UNH came along made me a generous offer and I took it and went undeclared for a year and now I decided to go to law school and become a lawyer. The beginnng of this track came in my trials of FIRST as a strategist. I became a rules lawyer and circumvented many rules and proved things that could be done when engineers thought they couldn't. I credit FIRST for a lot of changes in my life all of which are positive in which without this program I don't know where I would be today.