FRC Blogged - Something New – FIRST Dean’s List Changes

[swethaly]

I understand why they're doing it, but it defeats the purpose of the award. In the words of Woodie Flowers, "You get what you celebrate", and the description of the Dean's List Award states that its goal is to recognize the exemplary students who best express the ideals of FIRST. In that scenario, the expressing FIRST ideals and being an exemplary student is celebrated, so that's what FIRST would get. However they've been turning the award into a coveted title for college applications. In this scenario, FIRST celebrates focusing more on individual efforts than being a role model for others, so FIRST will get a bunch of students who only want an award for their college applications.

This pretty much goes against everything I've been told by Dean, Woodie, and everyone else for the past decade since I've been involved in FIRST. I feel lied to.