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Re: We aim for the stars (Part I)
Hi everyone. First of all thank you for those of you who spent the time reading my messages. I understand they are very long, usually longer than you expect to read in this forum, so if you find yourself skimming through it (or skipping entirely), I understand. This forum is already filled with tons and tons of messages everyday as the membership grew, so I don't blame you one bit. The fault is mine as I am still practicing the art of brevity. Some day some where I hope to be write shorter, but for now, just consider me an student learning to write all over again.
Believe it or not, there are points in these messages. It may not seem like it because they are buried in the paragraphs, but they are there. When I was writing Part I of "We aim for the stars", there were 3 primary points I was trying to make:
1. I see so many discussions happening around here of people questioning others about a. The way they participate in this program, b. the way they ran a certain event/made certain call on the field, and the way things are done by FIRST. Those discussions are ok as long as something constructive come out of it, but most of the time they are spent saying exactly that when they turned negative. It is as though the guiding light is missing.
It seems as though we are taking program for granted and forgot that these folks involved in FIRST didn't have to be here in the first place. And we forgot that the adults didn't have to volunteer at the teams at all when we question the way they act. And as soon as the discussions turned into another "you shouldn't be so ***" discussion it quickly goes down a downward spiral, with the merits of the discussion lost in the masses of posts, which could've benefited everyone if the discussion was conducted properly.
2. When we focus all our attentions at calls that were made, things that are done on various teams, or who have what more than we do, it is very easy to let these things take up all our time. Most of the high school students don't get so many years around FIRST. So I think it is very important for people to think about why they are in this program in the first place. Did we participate so we can argue with other people, or are we trying to do something bigger than that? What sort of messages are we sending to the students?
3. From time to time there are messages around here telling students as well as adults how they should act, what they should or shouldn't do. I know, because I've contributed my share to them. But after a while we forget that we can't just tell people how to think. We pretend by ordering them how and what to think, that that will naturally make everyone want to act nice. That's not to say that we shouldn't remind people how to conduct properly, but at the same time, we should remember that we better have ways to demonstrate why people should show respect to others and why they should have an opened mind, which is especially hard to show with the safety and comfort of anonymity on the internet. People are going to have to convince themselves, not us, because that's the only way that ever worked, just like the way you and I chose to respect each other.
I hope that even if you don't necessary agree with my points that at least you can understand where I am coming from. Time and time again I've learned that not only is it ok to be different and think different, but that these differences and the debates that come with them are often beneficial to our society and our way of thinking. "Being different is good", now that's something you don't see every day ;-).
I hoped you enjoyed these messages if you spent time reading them; they are my contribution to this community as I am unable to commit any time and energy to volunteer at actual events or working with teams.
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Hardware Test Engineer supporting RE<C, Google.
1999-2001: Team 192 Gunn Robotics Team
2001-2002: Team 100, 192, 258, 419
2002-2004: Western Region Robotics Forum, Score Keeper @ Sac, Az, SVR, SC, CE, IRI, CalGames
2003-2004, 2006-2007: California Robot Games Manager
2008: MC in training @ Sac, CalGames
2009: Master of Ceremony @ Sac, CalGames
2010: GA in training @ SVR, Sac.
2010-2011: Mechanical Mentor, Team 115 MVRT
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