I would have loved this program when I was younger. I was that kid that filled notebooks with sketches and schematics of robots that I wanted to build when I was 12. Looking back, none of what I sketched was viable, but that didn't stop me from imagining.
I was never into athletics. Most school activities were structured around that. You like basketball? Join the team! Volleyball? Join the team! You like robots and electronics and computers? Uh.... there's a chess club...?
Over the years I've developed a career in software engineering and on the side I do volunteer work with various youth organizations including my church and a summer camp that I got involved with. I seem to be naturally good at working with teenagers (maybe cause I'm still just a big kid myself
) So when I discovered FIRST it seemed like a natural confluence of everything I'm good at.
(And a few things I'm not. But hey, mentors get to learn too.)