Follow Up Poll: Did FIRST change your idea of what to major in?

[indieFan]

In a follow up to this thread (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=148564) I posted, I thought I would ask if being a part of FIRST changed what you wanted to major in.

[JohnFogarty]

I wanted to major in music education up until I experienced FIRST. Definitely changed my idea.

[Oblarg]

"None of the options fit" for me, I guess.

I always knew I was good at/enjoyed STEM, since well before I did FRC. I had no idea if that was what I wanted to do in high school - I toyed with notions of studying political science, or linguistics. FRC perhaps nudged me away from that, and I ended up majoring in physics (and later math, which I ultimately got my degree in).

Yet I'm not really pursuing a STEM career, per se; I'm seeking a Ph.D. in education. And there, FIRST has definitely been a huge influence - I learned more from FIRST than from the rest of high school put together, and from much of undergrad to boot. The learning from FIRST that I found important wasn't really STEM, though, it was meta-learning. FIRST taught me how to teach myself, how to approach problems and break them down and tackle them. In every STEM job I've ever worked, my success was due to FIRST - but (usually) not due to technical knowledge I gained through FIRST.

And so, in this capacity, while FIRST might have nudged me more towards a STEM major in my undergraduate education, I can't really say that it has pushed me towards STEM in general - it's pushed me towards education, so that I can do my part to help other people learn what I have learned from the program.

[NShep98]

I selected the first answer, but honestly when I started FLL in 6th grade, it was probably too early on for me to be able to tell now.

[jajabinx124]

I always knew I was good at math/science before I came into FIRST, but really didn't have an idea in what to major in. Getting involved really opened up areas in STEM that I was interested in and probably the most important part of it was getting to know what my mentors did. Getting involved on my team also prompted me to take AP Computer Science at my high school which really gave me a basic understanding of how to program in java and broadened my interest in that area. To sum it up, without my involvement in FIRST I don't think I would of found an idea of what I wanted to major in STEM.

[efoote868]

No, but out of the fields I was interested in, it helped me settle on electrical engineering.

[evanperryg]

I already knew that I wanted to go into electrical engineering, and I don't think FIRST really affected that very much. However, FIRST did provide me with an environment where I could develop my skills in my field of choice in a fun, engaging competitive environment. Even if FRC doesn't change someone's field of choice, it can allow them to engage in that field before going to college or entering the workforce, by providing opportunities in mechanical and electrical engineering, software development, business management, strategy, leadership, graphic design, video production, etc.

[Basel A]

I joined an FRC team in the fall of my freshman year of high school. At the time, I hadn't even thought about what I wanted to do with my life. I'm pretty confident it would've been a STEM field regardless, so that's the way I voted. If I had to guess, I maybe would've ended up in physics rather than engineering, but it's pretty hard to tell. FIRST definitely informed my decision to go into engineering, though, which was valuable whether or not I would've gone into engineering anyway.

[jtrv]

Very much so. I thought I wanted to go into some field of engineering- I wasn't sure what, but I was always told I would be a great engineer. I got to robotics and fell in love with coding and computer science, and realized a lot of engineering fields just weren't for me. So I guess you could say I moved from one STEM field to another, although I wasn't entirely sure in the first place.

[Red2486]

FIRST has definitely inspired me to go into education. Mentoring FLL teams and having my two lead coaches be extremely passionate about education, I really found it to be my calling. I was really passionate about writing to begin with, but FIRST really showed me the intersection of writing and STEM. As a future English teacher, I want to show students this intersection as well.

The other really big thing FIRST did for me was to show me how COOL and meaningful STEM is. A lot of the time, people forget about the STEM appreciation part of the FIRST mission. It's not just getting kids into STEM, but to also make them informed, to make them care about it. Before FIRST I really didn't see big value for STEM in my life, but it has inspired me to show this value to others through education. It is important to remember that just because someone isn't majoring or working in STEM, it doesn't mean that FIRST has failed. There are more ways than one to be inspired by FIRST.

[dirtbikerxz]

I would like to talk to the people that said first showed them that they wanted a non-stem career ;D

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I would like to talk to the people that said first showed them that they wanted a non-stem career ;D

I mean, when I started FRC I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do. As fun as it was, I realized I really wanted to go into ethnic/cultural/language studies while I was in FIRST. I could go on about this but that's the tl;dr.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I would like to talk to the people that said first showed them that they wanted a non-stem career ;D

Well, then I guess I'll share my story.

In my case, FIRST showed me that what I was good at and what I wanted to do with my life was help high school aged students succeed. Initially this made me plan to go into education, specifically the very non-STEM fields of History and English because I've always enjoyed teaching those.

However, in the past 6 months or so I've realized that teaching isn't quite the right field for me. So I am beginning to apply to Master's Programs in Counseling, with the intention of becoming a counselor/therapist for younger kids and teenagers.

Without FIRST, I may not have realized my passion for helping guide high school students through the rough times in their lives. My experience as a mentor has shown me that the times I find most rewarding aren't winning medals or trophies but seeing that kid who suffered from anxiety making friends, or that kid who was depressed smiling and feeling included in the group.

So yes, FIRST showed me that I wanted a non-STEM career, but it was also the conduit that helped me discover my true passion.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by P.J.

Well, then I guess I'll share my story.

....

So yes, FIRST showed me that I wanted a non-STEM career, but it was also the conduit that helped me discover my true passion.

Cool!

[The other Gabe]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I would like to talk to the people that said first showed them that they wanted a non-stem career ;D

Originally Posted by P.J.

In my case, FIRST showed me that what I was good at and what I wanted to do with my life was help high school aged students succeed. Initially this made me plan to go into education, specifically the very non-STEM fields of History and English because I've always enjoyed teaching those.

I picked the learning that I didn't want a STEM career for that reason, but also because being in FIRST taught me that I really don't find a lot of the things involved in engineering - CAD, programming, making CNC machines do things - fun or easy to do. combine that with realizing how much I enjoyed history, as well as things like Linguistics and Sociology (which I'm not majoring in because I think I'll stick to one major ), and STEM just wasn't for me. I'll keep robotics around as a hobby, though