[Michael R. Lee]

Looking back on my four years as a high school student. My first year a freshmen on 180 (S.P.A.M.) the girls did work (there were at least 5 and a number of them were seniors) in the assembly and machining of components. Second year same amount roughly but only 1 of them actually did anything productive. Like my last two years on S.P.A M., the over whelming majority of them were more concerned about…. Socializing over working. We’d ask them to do something and sometimes it’d be why? Or they’d just do that and have absolutely no follow up (like deburring a part… well they’d do 1 of the 6 parts that needed that). Part of it they never stepped up to do any of the work on the other side of the coin. But I admit I am guilt of shunning out girls from the Pits and doing work, partly preferring to deal with those who knew what they are doing and those who volunteer versus volunteering somebody.

One of my mentors, Warren, told us this my freshman year of high school (was it really four robotic seasons ago?) that one mentor solved part of his problem of the girls not doing any work on the robot. They were afraid of getting themselves dirty. So he lines them up and has them stick their hands out. He sprays them with WD-40 and basically tells them… now you’re hands are dirty so get to work.

The point is as mentors we really do have to in some ways police this issue. Not so much to spray someone whose afraid of getting their hands dirty but to make sure people get a fair chance at getting to do some of the work. There are some girls who will basically tell it to the guys and say let me in on this. Others we seem to have to make way for them. This in itself isn't a good thing either cause a mentor may not always be there to do so.

But really in the whole grand scheme of things is that it is about changing the culture. Something FIRST is about and that is one aspect we ought to help strive to change. Those of you who have been mentors longer than one year please feel free to contact me or respond to this message.