[JanineF]

Before FIRST I was all about engineering. FIRST told me that I am horrible at it and I discovered my love for leadership and team management. Today I am going to college while working at Hamilton Sundstrand as an administrative assistant (hey, it isn't glorious, but my foot is in the door!)

FIRST definitely gives you that real-life experience you need to see what you will truly want to do. I'm sure that I could have learned the engineering with FIRST, but the leadership/communications/PR roles came much more naturally and suited me better.

Through networking and learning other life-based needs (such as how much to pack for what amount of time, navigating airports, quasi-living with co-workers) FIRST raised me!