Quote:
Originally Posted by John Retkowski
Reserving a spot to make a post until I get home tomorrow and can actually use a computer instead of an iPhone. I've been thinking about the topic of inspiration and competition for a long time now and I need to speak my mind. Even if it's just for my own sanity.  |
Well it seems I can't edit my post for some reason so I'll just make a new reply.
I agree very much with the OP's point of view. However, with all due respect, I find it hard to understand the argument: "It's not about the robots." I believe the robots are a lot more important than many of us realize both in a competitive way and different way.
Let's ask ourselves this,” If it’s not about the robots, what's FIRST about?”
Easy. It's about inspiration.
Next question: What are we trying to inspire?
Another pretty straight forward answer. We're trying to inspire young people (really everybody) to become STEM leaders and show people how much science and technology matter.
One more question. (cmon you guys are smart you can do it)
How do we inspire? By building and competing with robots!
But it's not about the robots. Heh? Why are we trying to inspire people again? Yet the one thing that we might try to convince ourselves isn't important is the example of the same science and technology that we're trying to inspire people with. The robots! This might not be focused around competition, (although I feel that is getting undervalued as well but that will be my second point) but it should be focused on learning about science and technology and how we learn is by building robots. I can only speak for myself, but when I first heard about a robotics team in my area I didn't join because I thought, "Hey, maybe I can work on writing a paper." I wasn't thinking, "I hope they'll have a business plan!" I'm willing to bet that most young people first joined a team for one reason: To build robots. Why they stayed or got inspired by FIRST may be a different reason, but a robotics competition got them in the door giving them a rare opportunity to start on an early path to success in life and realize their dreams. Being on a team, I realize how important Chairman's and a business plan are, but I'm not inspired by them.
I was inspired when I first heard about the concept of a chokehold strategy. I was inspired by seeing so many people put in ridiculous amounts of work to build amazing, beautiful, quality machines. (And I might add that by beauty I don't mean looks) I was inspired when our team won our first district event, and then our second and third. I was inspired when we came back from an 82 point match in the quarterfinals at MAR championships and ended up going all the way to win. I was inspired when I saw 971's arm come out to pick up a tote for the first time. I was and am still inspired by the countless mentors who sacrifice so much to teach these kids. I get inspired when I see teams working together both in the pits and on the field to break limits they never thought they could. I also understand that many people aren't inspired by the same things I am. People get inspired by The Chairman's Award, the business plan, getting sponsors, and many other things. I'm glad people get inspired by these things. They're all extremely important. But the Chairman's Award and the robots aren't as different as they first appear.
They both serve to push the message and ideals of FIRST. They both serve to inspire people about STEM. The Chairman's Award is the highest honor in FIRST. Teams are rewarded for getting out in their communities and not only teaching people about FIRST, but also helping people in general. What I'm trying to get to is this.
What would we have if we took the robots and competition out of FIRST? Would we have a glorified woodshop? Would we have a community outreach program? I'm not undermining community outreach. We should be gracious and professional everywhere even outside of FIRST. We should do everything we can to help our fellow man. That's what engineers and all people should do. We should help people everywhere. That brings us back to why we're trying to inspire people: to prove that this stuff matters. Like it or not, the robots are what bring people to FIRST. They're what bring us all together.
They're what make us a family .
Now to the competition aspect. Before I even talk about competition in regards to FIRST, let me talk about the most famous form of competition in the world. Sports. Every year, millions and millions of people act crazy over sports (kind of similar to how we do over FRC). Many kids dream of growing up to be pro sports players regardless of the minute chance that they will. Why? Because they are inspired by it. They are inspired by the fierce competition. They are inspired by beating their opponents when no one thought they would. They are inspired by working their butts off, competing, and trying to win. Who wouldn't be? It's human nature to be inspired by these things.
Now bring it back to FRC. Why do we hate competition so much? Why do we say it doesn't matter? We put in so much hard work to sell ourselves short. Competition has become a dirty word, but it's not just about winning. It's about striving to be your best, it's about sportsmanship a.k.a. GP and encouraging your teammates and competitors to pick themselves back up when they lose and to never stop trying to be their best.
This is all just my opinion. I apologize if I'm not even mentioning the championship, but whether we do the right thing or the wrong thing, I don't think the Championship(s) will matter at that point.