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Posted by Jessica Boucher at 2/2/2001 3:35 PM EST


Student on team #237, Sie-H2O-Bots, from Watertown High School and Eastern Awning Systems & The Siemon Company.


In Reply to: The message FIRST is trying to send... and we should hear...
Posted by colleen - T190 on 2/2/2001 3:42 AM EST:



Dig deeper....

: In all honesty... my FIRST experiences dating from 96 to 99 were wonderful.. there were issues.. but they always got worked out... I took part of the beginnings of this wonderful site and got in touch with many great people who gave advice and helped each other out..

But.....you were also a high schooler....so your picture says. From what I can percieve, there is a HUGE difference between being a high-school participant and a college participant. Maybe the change had a disillusioning effect?

: 2000 was the worst... suddenly people were soooo craved for attention.. for credit.. for one ups on other teams and people.. that it really just became a big melting pot of politics than a FIRST community.. since when were FIRST people liars or cheaters.. since when was it less important to make something happen than it was to get credit for it...?

Also, you switched teams in 2000. In statistics, the question would be asked: are you looking at the sample (in this case, your team) or at the population (all of FIRST)?

I agree that the craving grew in 2000, but its human nature to crave attention (trust me, I see it all the time with the adults and the students). With 2000 came the reality that the alliances were here to stay. Because of that, it forced us to shine in other areas...or as Chris said, "sell" the team.

And, there are a lot of teams pressured to perform. Teams that aren't as well endowed are struggling to make ends meet, and could lose their funding in a moment...but, if they came home with an award, the battle becomes easier because with an award comes publicity, with publicity comes the money.
The publicity won't come any other way...unless the nation as a whole realizes it otherwise, FIRST will always be a "special interest" story...at WHS, for instance, during the scandal between a teacher and a female student, we didn't even have to tell the local stations, and we had all 3 stations swarming the gates, and the news chopper hovering the school. But we have to beg and plead for even one of them to come to look at the robot.

And what ISN'T political now? People make livings off of politics. Sports has politics. Theatre has politics. Education has politics. Medecine has politics. Religion has politics. Unfortunately, FIRST was destined to become infused by it eventually.

Luckily, FIRST forces itself to evolve annually. Maybe it will change. But, for now, it is a reality. So, why not make the best of it and look at the positives of it being political? Why not think of the robot's strategy as the strategy inside the larger strategy? Maybe I've written too much, but...I think the politics are what makes it so "real world"...because it is out there, and needs to be dealt with by everyone.

-Jessica B, #237