Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory
I don't want to put words in Rich's mouth, but what I think he means is that there is no blueprint because FIRST does not care what method of inspiration teams use. They are just happy that kids are being inspired.
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Correct Cory, and thanks for clarifying. I've spent the last seven years in FRC, the first four with a very different FRC team than the one I currently run/manage. I also spent three of these years "working" as a Senior Mentor for FIRST and have been blessed enough to help FIRST design the FVC/FTC game for the past three years. In all of my work with teams and FIRST, the message about this point has always been very clear and the only point I'm trying to make is this:
FIRST exists to change the culture; to make a better world; to excite students about engineering, science, math, and technology; and to show students about the exciting potential futures they can have in these areas. Please, please, PLEASE listen carefully to the speeches we hear from Woodie, Dave, and others. If your primary focus in FIRST is on the competition itself, you're totally missing the point.
Instead of looking at a robot or mechanism that may have been built by engineers and thinking to yourself, "they're cheaters" you should be thinking, "Holy crap! Look at that! I need to find out how they did that. I want to learn what they know." If you're having a hard time getting to that point in your thinking, I would suggest your focus and emphasis need some adjusting.