Why even bother submitting a Chairman's Award if we're not gonna win?

[MysterE]

Originally Posted by electrian21

From the Chairman's submission of 3337 (Panthrobotics, in Baton Rouge LA):

FIRST teams are inspiring students everywhere to continue STEM education and seek STEM careers. This isn't a checkbox as much as a testament to each team's impact.

Thanks for using our essay in the discussion. . .and I agree with your statement. In some ways, Chairmans is a checklist. After all, we use the post-review to hone our skills. But in the same way, building a robot that can compete follows the same fashion. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation play a role in why we outreach or why we build. But as my friend from Combustion can attest, winning a blue banner does not suddenly make a team feel as if it has "arrived". They continue to outreach and to grow. I enjoy the idea of making community awareness competitive. It changes students inwardly by providing external motivation and even when we experience loss (with a four year Combustion streak, we are getting used to it ;-) ) it motivates us to do more, reach further, and become better than we were. By the time you've reached the level of a 1114, you suddenly realize that the team has become so much more than the banners received. While the Banners initiate the outreach, eventually, the outreach becomes the Banner.