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Originally Posted by ASD20
While it didn't have a lot of the fluff of Worlds, when you strip it down to what it is at its core, a robotics competition, I truly think it rivaled Worlds.
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Except, at its core, FIRST is not a robotics competition.
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Originally Posted by Dean Kamen
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, event after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future"
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by FIRST's mission
The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting Mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
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Originally Posted by FIRST's vision
"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." Dean Kamen, Founder
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No where, in ANY of that, does FIRST or Dean talk about robots. Robots are simply the vehicle FIRST uses to reach it's goal, it is not FIRST's core. That "fluff" you talk about, is probably more at the core of FIRST than you give it credit for. Getting all of the programs together to inspire each other, bringing in colleges from around the world to talk with students about their future, having technology companies on hand getting immersed with the event, hosting conferences to help spread knowledge... those are all a big part of FIRST's core, and I HIGHLY doubt DCMP's come anywhere close to CMP when it comes to those things. FIRST is about so much more than the performance on the field, but so many people seem to fail to grasp that.