FIRST and Success: A Question of Definition

[dixonij]

First is definately not a money driven program. it is here to give high school kids different kinds of role models (or so Dean says...)

p.s. how long did it take you to type that M.Krass?!?

[Joe Matt]

Have I meet you before Michael?

Great writing and a better rebutal than most presidents can give.

Back to your regulary scheduled post.

FIRST isn't about money, but it's still a huge equation. Unlike a profit orginazation, money is a hinderence, not a plus. The plus instead of money is the teaching of kids. Something more important than any covercharge or party. Something that crosses boundaries, not financial statements.

I guess what I'm saying is this; FIRST switched money and inspiration to form a truely unique orginization.

[meaubry]

Why is it necessary to define it? Can't it simply be allowed to be whatever it is? Success as related to FIRST (and many things in life) isn't the same for any 2 people - sometimes, that is even true if they are the same team. Personally, Success to me is my belief that I'm making a difference.

[Madison]

Originally posted by meaubry
Why is it necessary to define it? Can't it simply be allowed to be whatever it is? Success as related to FIRST (and many things in life) isn't the same for any 2 people - sometimes, that is even true if they are the same team. Personally, Success to me is my belief that I'm making a difference.

Well, my intent wasn't to even attempt to arrive at any single definition of what success may comprise of - as I'd agree that any such definition would be limited in at least some sense.

Instead, I hope that by sharing a bit about how we each perceive FIRST and its successes, we may go a long way toward deconstructing some of the more resilient, limiting concepts that are traditionally associated with this.

I hope those people who see FIRST only as an engineering competition to look further and see that it has affected people in far greater, far more important ways. I want people who consider success to be a series of awards lined up in some trophy case to understand that FIRST can support their ideals and the ideals of others - and, in fact, probably couldn't exist without that dichotomy.

I don't think I'm trying to propose anything new or radical or unknown, but rather remind everyone (and maybe myself) that there are as many reasons for being here as there are students, and to put that on display for all to see.

Diversity is strength. Diversity adapts to change. Homogeneity in thought and action will stall this movement, I think. So, again, I'm not trying to encapsulate success in any certain terms, but just stir the pot a little and see what rises to the top.

[Amanda Morrison]

I don't think FIRST can have a simple definition besides teaching high school students teamwork, engineering skills, and above all gracious professionalism. Is there really anything more to it?

The question is, has FIRST succeeded? Has FIRST touched the lives of high school students, inspired engineers, and given society a new and promising future? Indeed it has, and FIRST has done it all with style.

[Ken Leung]

Originally posted by amandabean
The question is, has FIRST succeeded? Has FIRST touched the lives of high school students, inspired engineers, and given society a new and promising future? Indeed it has, and FIRST has done it all with style.

In time, we will know if FIRST has succeeded or not. It is one thing to inspire a bunch of kids into going to college and many more things about science and technology, team work, and life. It is another thing to change the culture and become a part of it.

I remember Dean once said (and repeated many many times afterward) that "in a 100 years, it won't matter how much money you have in your bank, or how many cars you own." I see that in a bigger meaning that, if you don't do something that keep going, then eventually it won't matter at all.

Don't get me wrong. FIRST have done wonderful things to inspire many many students already. But just like any FIRST teams, if your program aren't sustainable by itself, it will eventually perish and stop affecting people's lives.

I think there are 2 level of success in FIRST. The 1st level is just what everyone else said, when everyone are able to get the most out of this program and have a positive influence on all the participants. And that's what FIRST and teams achieved so far.

Then the 2nd level is to build a sustainable program that will continue to influence all the participants in the future. And some teams have achieved that, just look at the 10, 11, 12 years teams... But not every team is like this...

I said, in time, we will know if FIRST has succeeded or not, because right now I cannot see what's going to happen in 10, 20, 50 years, etc. Will FIRST continues to have enough sponsors to expand its program? Will FIRST be big enough that every high school will have a FIRST team? Will FIRST get enough acknowledgements that all the high schools will integrate it as a part of school curriculum? Will FIRST be accepted by everyone just like Sports?

...


My hope is, in the future, there won't be anymore wars in the world, and instead, every student will compete in FIRST and similar programs, to try to make themselves a better person, and at the same time make a positive difference to the rest of the world. But that's just a dream of mine. Maybe one day there will be enough people doing similar things who will agree with me that this will happen... Maybe there won't be.

If we are able to focus on the most important values and experience, and pass them onto future generations as stepping stones to build and expand on top of, and them doing the same to their future, then not only are we successful in affecting lives, but also in affecting our society’s future. And that, I believe, is a good direction to work hard toward in trying to change the world to a better place.

Mean while, not even for a second have I doubted how successful FIRST has been. I am extremely grateful of what happened to me because of this program, and I am willing to work hard to help programs like this expand and affect more teenagers like the kid I used to be.

[Rich Wong]

Good Stuff....

I agreed 100%.
(you would make a good Chairman's Award writer)

[Mark Pierce]

Originally posted by Ken L



Then the 2nd level is to build a sustainable program that will continue to influence all the participants in the future.

This is perhaps the best thread of the 2003 season so far.. Awesome comments by nearly everyone!

I agree with Ken's quote above, but I'd expand the 2nd level, changing it to "... influence all of society in the future".

When Dean set out to change the culture, I think that he means a culture where technical pursuits are recognized and encouraged in the media and everyday conversations as much or more than the entertainment and sports industry are today.

I see some change in this direction already, with some papers and TV News covering more hard science and technology issues with greater detail than ever was present before. Let's all look forward to seeing some of the front page stories about sports and entertainment being replaced with news about the FIRST championships or the National Medal of Technology recipients. How about a daily Technology Section like most news outlets have with Sports and Entertainment?

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Define success?!?
This is one of the great variables of the universe. If you have a student pick up a drill for the first time and drill a hole for a pop rivet, have you not achieved success? If you have made male and female students aware that this competition has no gender bias i.e. both can build, program, drive have you not achieved success? If you win, but students never worked on the robot or participated in team activities, did you achieve success? If you lose and every student goes to college have you succeeded? In my mind this program is not about great miracles, although they happen from time to time. It is about the quiet events that happen everyday. Those things are too small to measure in the BIG picture.

I realized a long time ago that it wasn't one person who turned me into what I am today. It is the thousands of people who have "bumped" me towards the path I now walk. I thank the teacher who encouraged me, the cousin who suggested, the interviewer who didn't interview me, the brother who smiled at me, the parents who provided for me. I thank the workers who hauled coal and dug ditches when I was younger for showing me hard jobs. I thank the optometrist who said I could not become a pilot. (not to mention air sickness.) The list goes on and on.

As to the student who professed being on the team to go to Florida, did he not learn that working with others does have it's rewards? Did he not see and learn and experience new things while in the nationals? I can hear you thinking "Yea right, we have a guy on our team just like that!" But do you know for sure he didn't get something out of the experience?

I know that we are successful if we get one student to decide on an engineering career, but we are also successful if we get a student to realize that engineering is not for them. With the many opportunities a person is faced with today, being able to narrow the choices is very important. Still more important is the self confidence that being part of a team gives, the ability to perform a function and be recognized for the effort. The ability to achieve goals, no matter how small, will lead to bigger things. I challenge students to learn just one new thing each day, something I have challenged myself to do. Do not go to sleep if you haven't achieved that goal. It's not that hard, but for someone on a team it happens naturally everyday.

A wise man once related this proverb...
A man met someone, and they exchanged dollars, when they parted, they each had a dollar.
A man met someone, and they exchanged ideas, when they parted, they each had two ideas.

Good luck everyone,

[SlamminSammy]

succeeded

If success is taking knowledge and turning it into something useful (whether its merely creating a robot or inspiring somebody's life) and we continue to learn throughout our lives, can success ever be achieved? Is success reaching a goal, or is it changing that goal (or the goal changing itself) whenever you approach it? As the adage goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination."

[Ken Leung]

Originally posted by SlamminSammy



If success is taking knowledge and turning it into something useful (whether its merely creating a robot or inspiring somebody's life) and we continue to learn throughout our lives, can success ever be achieved? Is success reaching a goal, or is it changing that goal (or the goal changing itself) whenever you approach it? As the adage goes, "Success is a journey, not a destination."

It really depends on the goal. If the goal is, say, "Inspire 200 students during the year of 2003 about science and technology", then sure it is possible to achieve that goal and be successful.

On the other hand, if the goal is "to change our culture and make it better and better", then it will be a continuous journey once you started. Every year, we can only say "we were able to make a difference that things are better than the past years." by knowing how much is done and compare it to the past. Or, we can say "We are able to set things up so that we can continue to try to achieve the goal." by making sure the program keep going in the future and improve & expand on top of the past and not fall back in progress.


So...

It really depends what goals you have. Sometimes, you can aim for a goal so high that its impossible for you to achieve it, but in the process you can say you are successful because you did the best you can and get the most out of all the work you did to achieve the goal. Some other times you can aim for a goal so low that, you could easily achieve it without much work, then even though you are successful in achieving the goal, you still didn't get all that much out of it, which is fine if the you are satisfy with the result.

At the end, it’s different from person to person depending on how happy they are about the result.

My feeling is that there are two kind of goals: your normal objectives that are designed to be achievable, and your vision that you look at for guidance when you don't know which path you should choose.

Once you figure out what each of those 2 is, then you can set out to achieve your objectives, while setting up more objectives in the future that follow your vision.

Then you can say you are successful because: 1. you achieved the objectives, 2. you set things up so you can continue to walk the journey guided by your vision while exploring different things to help define a better vision.

And maybe, success is just to have results you are happy about, even though it’s a bit general. But its true.


Anyway, In terms of FIRST, the objectives every year (for now anyway) are:

to expand the program to as many students as possibles
start more regionals around the country
Inspire all, say, 600 teams' student about science and technology and other important values.

These goals you can clearly say if you achieved them or not.

Mean while, the mission continues to be:

To build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering by designing accessible, innovative programs.

And the vision:

To make our culture better and better.