[Euriiko]

Hi everyone,

To begin with, I am personally a member of this team whose policies you are bashing. I am here to address your concerns.

I have been on this team for 3 years, and never has anyone been removed because they were involved in sports, band, choir, etc. I have a friend that is greatly involved in both band, choir, and theater. The mentors understand and appreciate every single moment she can spare for Robotics. We never prevent anyone from joining the team because they are busy.

Rather, we let each member be the judge of their own schedule. One of my friends was balancing AP US History, Robotics, Piano, and Business Professionals of America. The team did not ask her to leave. She participated rarely, but we did not dismiss her. She eventually decided that it was too busy and stressful for her, so she resigned. Resigned.Not kicked off.

Also, about the long 6 pages, I agree, that might have not been necessary, but this was written by one of our teachers. She is a wonderful woman who does her best to stay organized. 6 pages suits her. She writes it like a code of conduct, I realize. And I hope you who are reading this understand that a code of conduct is meant for the good of the team. And be aware that many school districts' code of conducts are 50-100 pages long.

When you said, we should accept everyone,

"not just those who you think keep the image of your team you want"

I need to clarify something.
Our team comes from a huge public school with about 1700 students. Each year, we have many, many applications, far too many to be able to admit every student. Why limit? There are several reasons.
1) We have only a few mentors, and the mentor to student ratio would be unbalanced, if we were to let everyone in. Too many students, in this case, would not learn efficiently and the team wouldn't function well. (Imagine one mentor to 20 students! "mentor" itself implies a small group of mentees)
2) We do not have enough funds. You have suggested we find more sponsors. This is, unfortunately, easier said and done. As of now, our Public Relations team has been recovering from losing half its group to graduation, leaving them with half the hands they originally have. As for me, I would love to find more sponsors. Please don't judge the team in general; please consider the individual aspect. I really wish other teams would share their own business and entrepreneurship plans that they have; that is one area I admit we are lacking in. I wish someone in this thread would post helpful suggestions, rather than repetitive criticism.
3) We need to see who really has their heart in the matter. You all know as well as I do that there are far more people who do not care about science and math and technology that those who do. My team is eager to change that. But doesn't it make sense to change 40 students' minds about science and technology than hardly change 90 students' minds? Just food for thought.

Our mentors are extremely kind and patient. Last year, my parents were late to pick me up almost every night of the week. They waited and talked with me. Of course they'd reprimand me for being late to leave, but no one ever gets dismissed from that. Please realize that what you read on the paper is not how it actually is. We make exceptions. I'm genuinely sorry about how harsh that application may have come across. I had no control over how it was written as a member. I wish members were able to write it, because as direct participants, we know the real story.

To punish a child because of their parents or prior obligation is a slap in the face to FIRST.

As I said before, this is not true. We do not punish students because of their parents or prior obligation. We have emails requesting additional help for serving/arranging meals, or transportation to certain events. Unfortunately, our school does not support our team in such a way that we would be independent of parental help. It's nothing we can control.
Also, I have taken Chinese classes on Saturdays, for two years of my three years in Robotics. I had to miss the majority of Saturdays, the most important build day of the week. No one scolded me or reprimanded me. The mentors are very understanding. They know that we have other things that matter to us. It would be a folly to assume that Robotics took precedent over everything else in life.

Also, please don't interpret the parent section as you did,

The parents section pretty much asks,"How much time are you willing to take out of your life so your kid can join our team?"

My mom and dad have four kids including me, one who is autistic. All of us are involved in various activities, including piano, violin, flute, tennis, gymnastics, Chinese school, and dance. It is nearly impossible for either my mom or my dad to help out in fundraisers. This is no "punishment". To have punishment is ridiculous. The extent of how much my parents can contribute to the team has never been a limiting factor, and never will.

But for a child to be denied because of that, is simply ungracious.

I do understand and empathize with your point of view on my team's application. But please pause for a moment and consider how you have handled your anger and frustration.
It might have been better to contact my team about our policies, rather than interpreting the application yourself. I have reread the application, and I can see how it must have sounded to you. I apologize. I wish I could have been in charge of writing the application, so it was more close to the true way we run things around here.

If the team wanted something in specific, we did a fundraiser for it. These techniques teach kids a good work ethic.

Yes, we fundraiser year-round, as much as possible, because we know how things are tight these days. We want to reduce student cost as much as possible. And to be honest, Robotics has indeed strengthened my work ethic. Some of the best memories I have are formed during team fundraising. It's a kind of team bonding that also gives us practice on teamwork. It's also really fun.

In a public school, how dare you put a fee on joining an EDUCATIONAL organization. The kids on your team are NOT I repeat are NOT a fundraiser. To exploit them for more money is simply outlandish.

Sorry, but exploiting? I feel that is rather harsh for you to say, considering you do not know my team personally. The negative connotation you have used has me almost on the verge of tears. We can't help it if our school doesn't take Robotics as seriously as we do! It's not in our power, please realize that!

I am just so devastated that your girlfriend's little brother may not even try out for my team, due to the negative impression you have. Your impression is not wrong, I just feel you have have overreacted and judged my team just at the surface level. Please don't judge a team by its application. Have you talked to any of my team members? My mentees? Have you even looked at our website?

If it's not too late, please tell your girlfriend's little brother to apply for my team. It's an amazing team, the reason why I want to pursue engineering in college. It's allowed me to expand my horizons, to visualize, to dream, to see the world in an entirely new light. I've made some great friends on my team, friends that support me as we all learn together. If I could live a thousand lifetimes, I would spend it with Robotics, trying out every single department, trying out mechanical build, electrical build, field build, programming, public relations, CAD design, and more. I love my team.

I am also happy for your team, that you have the miraculous capacity to be able to accept everyone who applies. It breaks my heart when we cannot accept everyone who applies due to our lack of mentors and funds. It's not something we can change right away, but something we are working towards improving.

If you know of anyone who is interested in mentoring, please contact our team. I respect JustAThought's refusal to not release team names, but I feel that it would have been better to be straightforward and know exactly who is who. If you would like to ask me any questions, my email is kelly_yu_2013@yahoo.com.