Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur
I'm sorry that this happened to you.
Is it fair? No, but life seldom is fair.
Blaming FIRST or the officials is not the answer though. You have the oppertunity here to show that no matter what they throw at you, you will prevail (true first spirit). Show them what teamwork and FIRST is about. If I were you, I'd go to that inspector and tell him it's all OK (I'll bet he feels worse about this than you do).
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"No matter what" [FIRST] "throws at you, you will prevail"?
This isn't Survivor: Florida. It's FIRST. If an organization is flawed in such a manner that it unintentionally yet continuously throws up roadblocks to random teams, roadblocks which keep the teams from getting the most out of the experience they paid for, then that organization must look themselves in the mirror and find out what's wrong. Sometimes, students and mentors must take a stand and help that organization open their eyes to the larger problem at hand.
I feel very bad for the volunteer inspector who forgot to sign the stickers, but the fact he didn't even know it was required indicates a much larger failure of the system. Teams pay far too much money and are far too busy dealing with their own internal matters for anyone to expect them to know all the "behind the scenes" rules and monitor the performance of the regional staff on hand. Teams rightfully expect that all training and communication has been effectively conducted prior to the event, and that the staff is effectively qualified to run the event smoothly.
While it's natural to look at each disappointing incident as its own little monster and tell the kids affected don't worry about it, you won't have to deal with that monster again, how many of these "isolated" events are we going to have to witness before we begin to believe there is a larger problem the FIRST community is facing? I think years of teams sitting back and "going with the flow" have actually let FIRST settle into an undeserved comfort zone, leading us to this point in time where the pot is finally boiling over and we all must find a way to clean up the spills together.
The FIRST spirit isn't about ignoring systemic problems and hoping they'll go away. The FIRST spirit is built upon a foundation of problem solving. Let's identify and help solve the problems this organization is facing, not sweep them under the carpet. Thank you to this student who voiced his concern over this problem in such a respectful manner. I will offer the same advice to you that so many others have - stay positive and find ways to make the most out of your situation (perhaps help verify that other teams who've been inspected at future events have signed stickers). However, in addition to this, I offer you the hope that one day soon FIRST mentors will join together and actively seek to work with FIRST to solve the problems we observe instead of simply looking past them.
The word of the day is "communication", kids. Everyone, let's help spread the word.