Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon Holley
Wow, what a thread.
Collin's points about mediation are spot on - this is a serious issue that shouldn't be swept under the rug. It's not about a single document, or event, or volunteer, its a serious cancer inside the FIRST culture of a region. If you haven't been a 20 something up and comer in FIRST, you have to understand that seeing the other perspective is going to be very difficult for you. If you haven't had the responsibility of running an event to ensure 60 teams have an amazing time, you have to understand that seeing the other perspective is going to be very difficult for you.
As a 28 year old, now running a team for almost a decade, event chairing official FRC events, I really empathize with the frustrations I'm hearing from the low-mid aged college students in FRC. I've been disrespected, ignored and singled-out. I've also overreacted, lost my cool and missed the point. I get it. I've been there. My team is filled with college-aged mentors with a sprinkle of upper 20 somethings, I understand the frustrations on both sides of this discussion right now.
As an early 20s FRC mentor and volunteer, FIRST regional committee and volunteerism felt a lot like an Old Boys Club. You needed to know someone, or you weren't going to be involved how you wanted to. It sucked, plain and simple.
Were my expectations probably overly ambitious? Yeah, most certainly. But this is FIRST - you have a massive base of extremely talented young people thats growing every year who are being programmed to change cultures and break through barriers. Can we seriously expect them to just take a back seat until someone deems them 'ready'? (Subsequently I think thats why reading that in a document, even if it was only distributed once is what set off this storm.)
I liken it to a performance review at any employer. If you're a young employee, your growth and career path is a topic that is extremely important. Managers need to ensure their employees have a clear understanding of what it will take to reach the next level. Where employees get disgruntled is when they don't have that visibility and there is infrequent communication about where they stand. This is is what I am hearing when I read the posts from the many college-aged volunteers/mentors in this thread. They basically don't see the path - whether it exists or not isn't the problem to focus on, its that these eager-to-help people don't see it.
Honestly, the best thing to happen to New England on a volunteerism front was Districts. The issue was forced and the floodgates were opened. The barriers were broken. We no longer could rely on Dave Goric to Head Ref every event, or Kate Pilotte/Jacob Komar to FTA every event. These are awesome key volunteers, but we needed to diversify and holes were filled.
The hard part is you have to make a leap at some point. You can inch the cliff closer and closer by training keys for years ahead of time, but at some point in time - the region will need to jump. You may not see exactly where the key volunteers will be coming from, but the point is if there is never a hole to fill, or even visibility through consistent communication, the potential key volunteers will never materialize.
I'm super proud of New England, and its why I'm bragging about it now. We have an awesome mix of veterans who KNOW THEIR SH*T, and a spectacular group of eager 20-somethings - each group is getting a chance to shine- and its awesome to watch.
-Brando
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I can relate to this very much. Being in the program now for 16, going on 17 years. And being an assistant FLL coach starting in 8th grade. With still being one of the "young ones" in my 20's and even after running tournament for the past 6 years I still understand getting pushed aside due to age, unless people know my history within the program.
Can it be annoying or frustrating at sometimes, yes. Now I don't let those comments bother me and I just get on with what I am doing. I know that I have a lot to offer my community with my experience in FIRST now it is just making sure I use that in my most positive impact that I can.
I think the biggest thing that has helped me to start to break into the so called Old Boys Club, is to become part of committee and boards within the local FIRST community, this has helped to build connections for my self and others like me that are some of the younger generation.
And let me tell you I am blessed living in Indiana and growing up with Veterans, and knowing and seeing teams since 2000 like 234 Cyber Blue, 45 TechnoKats, 47 Chief Delphi, (Before they were a website), and 71 Team Hammond win on Einstein in 2001 live in person while I was still in FLL. I got to met the Andy Bakers, and Chris Fultz as well as countless other now veterans of the FIRST Robotics world when I was very young. While they may not remember me, they did have an impact on why I continue to do FIRST robotics today.
I will ALWAYS continue to learn from these people that came before me, when in passing, conversations I might have had with them, and even seeing how they handle situations at events when they arise.
So I urge my age group in college and in our 20's. Be more like a sponge, and soak up as much as you can from those veterans in your area that were cornerstones and pillars within the FIRST community. Those that have those core values instilled within everything they do. I know if we do that now, we will be able to create a better FIRST community for all, when we end up becoming the "Old Boys Club" and the generation below us starts to yell at us that "you don't understand us at all"