[BandChick]

This is a great thread. Someone should let the guys up at FIRST read this.
FIRST has absolutely impacted my career choice.

Before FIRST, I started out wanting to be a Pre-Med major, I wanted to be a pediatrician from the time I was 5 or 6. I was all set for that major when I was a junior in high school. Senior year started and HHS got a FIRST team. My mom had been pushing engineering and FIRST (which we had known about then for 5 years), and my response was always "Huh? What is engineering?"

By the time I graduated, I had completely changed courses. I was enrolled at the Rutgers University School of Engineering as a Mechanical Engineer. The freshman Dean of Engineering (read: a father of one of the kid's on Team 25) knew all about FIRST, and when I went for an interview, he simply said "With the experiences and determination you've learned from FIRST, you can succeed in anything you want."

Wow. What an impact.

I'll be honest, however, I've strayed from that path. I'm now on my third major, but FIRST has helped to open a lot of doors for me, and has also made me focus my talents and decide exactly what my best skills are. When I do go back to school (after my term as a FIRST Americorps VISTA member), I will be going for Education. I've been researching education in NJ, and TCNJ even offers a Technology Education degree.

After working with my FIRST team now for 5 years, I finally realized that this is what I enjoy. I love to see the students I work with grow, learn, and succeed. It seems silly; I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do after high school. And here I am, completely turned around, and happier than I can ever remember being. So for me, being in FIRST has helped me realize one thing, I want to be in FIRST forever. That is why I took the Americorps VISTA position. This is why I still mentor my old high school team. Not for everything that I get out of the program (which I'll be honest, is a LOT), but to help other kids get as much out of it as I have.

Long-winded as usual,
Sara Reffler