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This post has, once again, raised a number of issues in my own mind about the goals of FIRST and how others interpret what is meant by something said.
I’ve currently been left wondering what the overall goal of FIRST is. The reason for this is that I did not come into the FIRST program until the 2001 season. When I did enter, it was explained by the high school teacher that the emphasis of this program was to *inspire* and *recognize* science and technology. Yet, I find myself confused after three years in this program about what the word *inspire* truly means. With all the different teams and mentors currently in the program, it is understandable that a person would come across a variety of ideas about what “inspiration” is.
From what I understood at the beginning, however, I am finding that few to no adults in the program believe “inspiration” in the same way I do. I have come to believe that the FIRST program is not just about showing students science and technology and then hoping that they continue on in college in some technical field, but that the program should actually be *targeting* specific students that wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to see it. Currently, however, in the area that I live in, the schools that are primarily involved in FIRST are from middle-class (and above) areas. The students on these teams are the ones that, with relatively rare exception, already know that they are going to go to college. And, like myself, they would have found their way into the sciences, if they so desired.
Yet, to me, the students that are attending lower-class area schools are the ones that should be getting involved in this program. How many possible engineers are we losing because their lives have not been touched by this program simply because they are in a low-income school? How many of these students are not being *inspired* in the areas of science and technology? How many of these students are not getting the chance to realize that college is not an impossibility? These are the students that I believe the program should be inspiring.
But the overall goals of FIRST are not the only thing that is being interpreted in a variety of ways. Take, for example, Dean’s homework assignment to the graduating seniors to start new teams. Some people are saying that next year’s college freshmen are supposed to start teams on their own and compete in next year’s competition. Yet, what Dean said could actually be interpreted that next year’s freshmen should go out and network with professors, local high schools, and community members that might be interested in getting a team together in the next several years. I’m sure there’s another way of looking at what Dean said that isn’t stated here. The point is that most people will interpret something that’s said however they want to interpret it.
I know this doesn't answer the question, but hopefully it will raise more questions in another person's mind.
indieFan
P.S.- As another example of various interpretations, I always saw RCU as a possible networking opportunity and bridge between high school students and SWE (Society of Women Engineers) at the college and professional levels.
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