Focus on STEM education only, good or bad?

[BlueLipstick]

The focus of FIRST is STEM, and there's nothing wrong with that. However the program encompasses other types of interests, and the problem starts when we start to invalidate those other fields. The point of an FRC team is to be a mock engineering firm, which includes advertising, community outreach, spirit, graphic design, administration, and many other non-STEM elements. As someone who works in those extra branches, it's excruciating to constantly be discredited and not regarded as a real contributor to the team. One of the best things about FIRST is that it is inclusive, that you have diversity. But the condescending manner many non-STEM students face discourages that. So while STEM may be the focus, people need to start respecting that there's more than one way for people to fit into this program.