Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber
I think maybe that is the reason that FIRST hasn't been more successful; So many of us, it seems, are in it for the wrong reasons.
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I wouldn't say entering a
competition to win is the wrong reason to enter.
All in all I do agree with your post, but I would prefer not to downplay the importance of the competitive aspect.
The competition is really fun, despite all the fun and I've had in other aspects, the competition was the my enlightening moment where I decided FIRST was really something I wanted to do, which resulted in my aspirations to become a mechanical engineer. If my team wasn't going all out to win in 2007, the competition would not have been have as fun or inspiring.
FIRST's primary purpose is to Inspire and the competitive aspect plays an integral role in this. If people want to be competitive and do what they can to win, let them do it without others complaining.
Going back to how I agree with most of your post...It's important that the values and goals of FIRST are not lost in the desire to win, but I feel like this certainly is not the case at this point. If it becomes the case further down the road, I'll be more than happy to skeptically look at over competition, but for right now, I see no problems.
Considering the expence of FIRST it's amazing its as successful as it is today...but it's not random, there's a reason...It's because most of the things FIRST has done they've done right. I wouldn't look skeptically upon lack of success even compared to potential. Consider all of the people FIRST has affected. In my opinion, that's nothing but success.
I agree very much about people giving up, or not giving up though. Honestly my team has been getting competitively worse, our best years were 2007 and 2008, but our team has contiued to grow, we've worked hard and have a bigger effect on the community and inspired more people. You don't have to win to inspire, which is where I agree with you, but the competition is really important and really fun (as described above).