[KenWittlief]

One of the aspects of human nature that never fails to amaze me, you can tell someone:

this is whats going to happen, then this is how you are going to feel, and then this will be your reaction, and then this will be the result...

and then the person follows those steps exactly, and acts like some strange thing is happening to them - when you TOLD them ahead of time!

A few years back Dean Kamen spoke the following words at the kickoff meeting:

>>> "At some point in the next few weeks you are going to feel like you are involved in some robot building contest, and then you are in serious trouble!"<<<

Does FIRST need a creed? Do we all need to join hands before each meeting and recite the creed? Would it help?

FIRST is not a robot building contest
FIRST is not designed to enterain the masses
FIRST is not fair
FIRST will never be fair
We need to inspire students to be engineers and scientist or the standard of living in our country will plummet.

I gotta say it - many of the people posting in this thread ARE in serious trouble!

How can you possible think 8 kids with one mentor in a HS shop class can EVER compete against a team with 30 students, 20 engineers, and the entire assets and resources of GM at their beck and call?

Would you think those 8 kids could design and build CARS in their shop class and out sell GM, or any other corporation? Then why do you think they can do the same designing a robot?!

Teams with big money and vast resources are going to be top competitors - this is not a question of fairness, its reality! If FIRST gave you from now until the sun winks out, that wont change anything.

Stay focused on the prize! If your students go on to become engineers then you have accomplished something meaningfull. (Mentors that run around ranting at FIRST are not going to inspire anyone).

If a bunch of people sit in bleachers for 6 hours and think you have created the most entertaining poof ball flinging robot in your region then by the time they get home and flip on the TV nobody will care!