[Nuwanda]

Very recently, I was informed of my team's nominees for the FRC Dean's List award. As a junior on the team who has been actively involved for three years, I was understandably disheartened when I found myself to not be nominated. I'm the lead of our awards team, have been writing and submitting Chairman's essays since I was a freshmen, and invest a lot of time in our presentation and video. I am also a student leader for scouting, and have been for the past two years. Additionally, I lead our documentation team in making an engineering notebook, which has required an amazing amount of dedication by my team and myself in particular. I also help organize our community outreach and work on our social media. I volunteer at FTC and FRC events, and help coach our FTC team. I consider myself a well rounded and passionate member of the FIRST community. I plan to continue being involved with FIRST after I graduate because of the value of this program.
My mentors informed me that I was at the top of their list for Dean's List students, and that they had been excited to write about all of the ways I lead my team. However, they were upset to find out that I was not eligible for nomination. This is due simply to the fact that I am not pursuing a career in engineering or another STEM field. While it was encouraging to know that my team appreciates the hard work that I put in, it was discouraging to know that I am going to be overlooked.
I think this is a grave mistake on FIRST's part. They are always exclaiming that FIRST is about more than robots, and that the Chairman's Award is the most prestigious honor that a team can receive. Yet, there are students like myself who are passed by when it comes to recognition for outstanding leadership in things that are not directly related to the robot. I cannot be the first student to have missed out on the amazing opportunity to represent their team as a Dean's List Nominee.
I am one of the most dedicated members of my team. I put in countless hours to make my team stronger by focusing on the areas where we’re lacking, taking the initiative in many different ways. The Dean’s List award is meant to recognize student leadership, and my teammates and mentors agree that I am deserving of this recognition. I am honestly disappointed with FIRST. Even though a team is not just a robot, I feel this is sending the message that the robot is the most important part, which directly contradicts the values that FIRST promotes. Inspiring science and technology may be FIRST’s mission, but the program teaches a number of other skills that are just as valuable. The criteria for this award are:
-Demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST
-Effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST in the school and community
-Interest in and passion for a long-term commitment to FIRST
-Overall individual contribution to their team
-Technical expertise and passion
-Entrepreneurship and creativity
-Ability to motivate and lead fellow team members
I strongly believe that someone who isn’t going into STEM is fully capable of meeting all of these criteria and placing that stipulation is unfair to those students who are not interested in pursuing a STEM career. I love this program and know how much of an impact it has on the future of innovation, but this is an issue that I’ve been struggling with, and one that I felt should be brought to the attention of more people.