Honestly, as a former leader of this team and as an international business major, I thank you for saying that. That is exactly what I wanted to say. Coming out of the FIRST experience with the ultimate destination of being an engineer does not necessarily mean you have benefited any more or any less than say, an Ian Mackenzie or a Karthik (Kanagasabapathy? whoa its in spell check)
Quantifying the benefit of FIRST and being inspired is pointless unless you are attempting to count the reach of the program, in that it continues to expand. There will always be the subtle nuances of when a student first picks up a tool and learns not to be afraid of it, or to ignore when some mentor claims that one can put in a washer back wards, compared to when someone realized their ultimate destination should be engineering, as opposed to business. Personally, I think FIRST strives for this type of balance, or at least it should.
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Originally Posted by Cory
I don't think you can measure inspiration in terms of how many students go on to study engineering. You can be inspired in different ways. You could have always wanted to do something else with your life, but still gain a respect for engineering. While FIRST's main goal is to inspire students about science and technology, I'm sure some students have been inspired on the business/management side of thing as well.
I'm actually having trouble quantifying "inspired", now that I start thinking about it.
Does inspired mean not knowing anything about engineering/science, and then going on to get a degree and work in those areas? Does it mean joining a FIRST team just for the heck of it, and then loving it so much you spend a good portion of the rest of your high school career doing it? Does it mean gaining a greater understanding and respect for what engineers do? How about those stories of kids who lived rough lives, who seemed to be on the wrong track, and through FIRST got themselves back on the right track?
I can say what inspires me, but I don't think you can quantify all the different ways the thousands of students in FIRST have/will be inspired by.
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