[the_godfaubel]

First off, I would like to say that I love the blog idea. But, I would like to make a point after just listening to what Andy Baker had to say at the Indiana District Championship.

Those of you who are saying that FIRST is only about STEM couldn't be any further from what it truly is about. While you might only see students building robots and learning about STEM, you miss that we, as mentors, are trying to build better individuals. We teach them that sometimes failure is an inevitable step towards success. They need to understand that everything is not always going to going their way. Like any team, they need to learn to work together to achieve their goals. It's an application to the real world that you're not always going to like everyone that you work with. They learn to lean on and trust their teammates when they need to get through those tough times. A team, if built right, is like a family. True family will accept anyone for who they are, no matter what. To quote Dean Kamen off of the FIRST website, "FIRST is more than robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills. Kids often come in not knowing what to expect- of the program nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future."

So, we eventually get to this idea for an LGBT blog for fellow FIRSTers. I don't know if many of you have been paying attention to the real world, but some people are saying some pretty cruel things about their community. Young people see what these people are saying and some of them are from the LGBT community. They get scared that they won't be accepted because of who they are and that's just not right. So, if this blog helps even one student by letting them know that they are not alone and are strong enough, then it's a perfect idea. You know what, if you don't agree with it, that's totally fine, but don't go complaining about how it doesn't represent FIRST because it absolutely does. If you don't like the blog idea, don't read it! No one is going to force you to.

To conclude, I am going to call out anybody who wants to exclude people because of how they look, who they love, or what gender they are. We need the world to be a more accepting place, and if you're preaching the opposite, well, you're part of the problem.