Quote:
Originally Posted by Taylor
Even if a hypothetical team somewhere "buys that robot", "pays someone to build that for them", "uses how many mentors to build that robot" and "has unlimited funds to build with", and I say this with absolute seriousness,
WHO CARES?!??!!
Is the team celebrating Science and Technology?
Is the team creating Inspiration?
Is the team Recognizable?
If any or all of these answers is even a little bit "yes", then Mission Accomplished.
It's a learning process for teams and individuals to understand this. It took me about 4 years for it to sink through. I don't believe any team is 100% student built or 100% mentor built (for those that claim to be completely SB, who do you think created the KOP? It wasn't 15 year old kids!)
If I were in your shoes, I'd take those interactions - while quite unfortunate - as a compliment. Perhaps you could create a flyer outlining the different abilities of your robot, and highlight the team member who spearheaded each component. Invite the naysayers to your shop. Point out to them that students are in the pit working on the robot, not adults. Haters gonna hate; kill 'em with kindness.
Congrats on the ICA.
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I agree 100% with this post. Our team was ran similar to how the OP's team was this year. Our reason behind that was because our students had no idea what FIRST was and our goal was to get them into it and experience it. We didn't go expecting to win, we just to show the kids to get them hooked so the team could grow next year. Many teams run their teams differently. As long as the message of FIRST is getting through to the kids, I say keep doing what you're doing.