[aziandorkess]

When FIRST came to my school in 8th grade, I thought it was really dorky.. and I really didn't have an opportunity anyways, since it was directed to high-schoolers anyways. But when some of my friends went off, had a blast, and did really well.. I started to reconsider. I got into in 9th grade, and one of my friends pulled me into FIRST. One of the reasons was that I felt rebellious against my parents, who didn't want me to pursue the sciences (crazy, crazy adults) and just went into robotics. I had such a great building season that I had to continue with FIRST. I also wanted to find out more about the inside-jokes and stories.. which were really intriging. Once you're hooked on FIRST, it's hard to break the habit.. well- it's next to impossible.
We don't really have a problem with recruiting girls, because most of the people at our school are really openminded, and we're already kind of a family.. so no one is judged as a "nerd" as they would be at normal high schools. Most girls are selfconcious, and it's hard to break out of cliques and traditions. Keep on trying to recruit girls.. there are so many aspects to FIRST, that everyone could have an interest in at least one of them.