[Erin Rapacki]

From my experiences on a co-ed high school team, a mostly-guys college team (at the time), and mentoring an rookie all girls team...

Well, for a girl... participating on an all-girls team is an awesome way to get started in design and technology. When I was younger I found myself a lot less confident in presenting my design ideas because the guys on teams were very pressing and convincing that their ideas would work. I thought my ideas were no good and didn't have the confidence to speak up over a guy who was very passionate about HIS idea. What I know now, and didn't then, was that my ideas were just as good... the guys didn't have more experience than I, they were just more confident sounding.

I had five years of FIRST where I played the 'girl' role, it wasn't a bad thing... but mentoring that all-girls team made me realize design was what I wanted to do. I've only REALLY wanted to do mechanical engineering for the past year or two.

Mentoring 1975 taught me that I enjoy design, I'm passionate about it, and I finally GET IT! It took owning the project and teaching other young ladies about robots, and not having to argue with a bunch of "very convincing" guys, to realize my potential as a design engineer. I had FIVE YEARS of FIRST, and it took me an all-girls team to realize that design and engineering is cool.

So ladies, go enjoy your team. Your minds, your insights, and your future will be much further along. YOU own that project, and once you've gained your confidence... you'll find it easy to collaborate your creative ideas with male engineers.

Just my $.02