[Sean_330]

How could we change the culture? I think the question here is what part of the culture you want to change? It is true, that FIRST has not had a profound impact on all areas of our culture as of yet, but there has been some definite change. Let’s look to another area other than gender/educational one talked about earlier.
It is no big secret that society today glorifies violence. Especially in the inner city areas, violence is commonplace and the music, movies, and literature reflects it. (Also, just to clarify things, I am not picking on the inner city. I work as an EMT in the inner city in Los Angeles, and am speaking from personal experience.) FIRST has a growing number of teams from inner city schools now. The students on these teams have a great chance to do something positive despite all the negative opportunities they have around them every day. FIRST always stresses we are to have a higher standard than the society around us and, that "gracious professionalism" should be our guide. Instead of idealizing violence and getting caught in the endless cycle of violence that occurs there every day, the students on the inner city teams learn to strive for something better, something positive, something wholesome. Time and time again, I have heard stories of gang members, teenage mothers, and poor students in inner city areas turning their lives around, going to college, and being on their way to being productive citizens. Their lives have been changed, and, as a result, in a small way the society around them has been changed too. In EMT school our teacher told us "If you save a life, you save the world" I think FIRST is much the same way, "if you change a life, you change the world"