[dpc131]

I'll take the opposite and discuss how FIRST didn't affect me.

When I was in High School (in the 90's,) my school was not involved because FIRST was just starting and really wasn't in a lot of schools. Anyway, I went into engineering because I was good at math and science, and I liked my electronics class. Some justification for a career choice, huh! When I did get involved in FIRST (as an engineer) I see how much this mirrors what you will be doing as an engineer. Learning the process now, in High School, has so many benefits for college and your future. You are exposed to many engineering areas and can make up you mind on actual engineering experience and not on whether your good at physics or not. I'm glad the career I chose, but FIRST would have helped out so much back then when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do.