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I have been following this thread from day one and continue to grow more and more frustrated and disturbed by what I am reading. I have responded here in what I hope is a coherent manner.
Many people are complaining that they have been "screwed" out of going to the Championships, esp. if they were an even numbered rookie team last year. Additionally, many of these complaints come from the people that are coaches or mentors. To these adults, I ask: What are you teaching the students you work with using what I see as a "Little League" parental attitude?
To the students that have been complaining that they will never go to the Championships, I have this bit of advice: Become a mentor after you graduate from high school. Not only will you have more of an opportunity to attend the Championships, but you will be giving something back to the program that gave you so much.
I do not view the Championships as the "ultimate" experience. After all, it was not the Championships that got me involved in FIRST, nor has it kept me in FIRST. It was an email from a college professor that I have saved over the years saying, and I'm paraphrasing, "I am getting involved in a high school robotics program. If you are interested, come on down." Out of the 50 or so students that email went out to, I was the only person that responded. That was 4 years ago when I was in my first year back in college. From that email, and my subsequent involvement in the FIRST program, I have gotten the following from the program:
1) An amazing mentor who
-a) lets me know of opportunities like the Undergraduate Research Program
-b) has me working on a CNC
-c) has let me spread my "wings" and come up with solutions to various design problems
2) The opportunity to quickly realize that the degree I was thinking of getting would not make me happy
3) The chance to realize that persistence can be a good thing
4) The chance to work and influence the next generation
5) The chance to work on dealing with a variety of individuals and/or situations
6) The opportunity for hands-on learning to make me a better engineer in the future years before a class in Senior Design
7) Some hope for the future of society
I currently work with two teams (since the rookie season of each). One is going to be a 4th year team and is odd numbered. The other is going into its second year and is even numbered. Neither team will collapse if it does not get to go to the Championships.
The goal for each team differs, but they are not attained by attending the Championships. For my second year team, there were six Saturdays that were used for designing and building, along with the weekend at the SoCal Regional this past year. My goal at the regional went from one of doing well at the beginning of the weekend to one of "I want one good round where the robot can be controlled by the students." We had problems with the programming, and after putting weight onto the robot, we had problems with turning. In our 5th round, we finally managed to move, and I was elated despite the fact that we weren't turning. The next day, we were able to modify the robot so that the students could control it the way they wanted to, thus acheiving my overall goal of "one good round". The students were excited to see all of their hard work over those six Saturdays and one weekend finally come together. This, to me, was what the FIRST program is all about. How, I ask you, would the Championships have changed/enhanced this? The answer is that it wouldn't have. Did that rookie team disband? No. Will that team say "we should disband since we can't go to the Championships this year?" No.
For the veteran team, the goal each year is to have a working robot in the box at ship time. Are we always 100% functional? No. Do we always manage to have a robot that can drive and do at least one task? Yes. Did the Championships change this when we attended last year and in 2001? Not to my knowledge. We accomplished the various designs that we set out for ourselves each year, or we reevaluated what we were trying to accomplish and made the necessary adjustments at the regional level.
I am asking that everyone look at what it is exactly that you expect you or your students to get out of this program. I have a feeling that many of you will find that you can achieve the same goals by attending one regional, let alone two, if you can step back just a little bit.
Thank you FIRST for the extracurricular education you have provided me with.
indieFan
Coach 599
Asst. Coach 1070
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