Why Do You FIRST?

[Brandon Zalinsky]

It used to seem like a simple question to me: "Why do you FIRST?"
Through my middle school and high school, it was about learning and helping my team succeed. I didn't realize until volunteering after high school what the actual affect this program has on students from all walks of life.

I'd like to share an experience with you guys. At the Dalton District Event, I was scheduled to start the weekend as a robot inspector and transfer over to MC before opening ceremonies. One of the first teams I inspected was Team 4195, Genesis. They are a lower-budget team from Rome, Georgia, with a pretty nice machine for their resources. From the start, they ran into inspection issues, from bumpers and frame perimeter violations to pneumatics and conneciton issues. Keep in mind, this is a team working out of a Boys and Girls Club- they could hardly dream of most of the resources many teams and students take for granted. I was deeply impressed from the very beginning of speaking with them how attentive and helpful their students were. Every student genuinely cared about the achievement of their goals.

As practice night wore on, their pit was a swarm of students and mentors, as well as orange and yellow hats, all working together to get this little engine that could working. They finally were fully inspected right before their first match on Day 1. I had never seen a team so committed.

Fast forward to the finals, and I got the privilege to introduce, you guessed it, 4195. They were the second pick of the third seed alliance. The looks on their drive team's faces- in that moment- made me realize why I "do FIRST." It's to make moments like that happen for those kids. I had seen this team crawl from the depths of despair to playing for the event win. I knew that no student on that team would ever forget that event.

I think, in our rush to label the "best", "fastest", or "coolest", we lose sight of what's really important in this program. To me, now, it's not about the 118s and the 2056s. It's about the 4195s. It's about giving a chance in STEM, and in life, to the students who otherwise would have never been given one. I guess, after many years, I finally learned what true "Inspiration" is.

So, what about you? Why do you do FIRST?