Is FIRST about Robot?

[Jon Stratis]

The robot is certainly important. But I don't think that's what FIRST is about. I had the benefit of seeing this thread right before going to the gym, so I had a good long time to think about it before getting home to post.

I'm going to start with a comparison... are the Boy Scouts about camping? Merit Badges? No, but those are some of the first things you think of when you think about scouting. Instead, it's a values-based youth development organization. "The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness." FIRST falls into the same boat, I think - we all see and think about the robot, but that's not what it's about.

When I think about what FIRST is about, I have to think about what the students get out of it. So, the first thing I did was look at the Dean's List nominations I've written in the past few years. In them, the robot does come up - typically, it takes up about 1/4 of the nomination. But I've only ever mentioned on-field performance once, in one sentence burried in the middle of a nomination. When you think about how much time we spend on the robot, it's a little shocking that that number isn't higher. The rest of the nominations deal with outreach, leadership, enthusiasm, dedication. When it comes to the impact we have on these students, it's not about the on-field performance at all.

But you know, that's really all based on my perspective of how we impact the students... so I went away from the Dean's List nominations and instead looked at the WFFA nomination my students shared with me. In it, they talk about learning complex concepts, being pushed outside of their comfort zones, improving their confidence and capability. The robot barely comes up (only in an anecdote about it falling from the top of the pyramid a few years ago), and on-field performance is never mentioned. These kids don't value their mentors because we help them win competitions or awards. They value us for the long lasting, direct impact we have on their lives.

And then I thought about the mentor meeting my team had last night. It's a regular occurrence that lets us figure out, as a group, what we're doing with the team. And you know what? The robot was practically a sideshow at the meeting. We talked about scheduling, outreach, leadership roles and team organization. We talked about how we needed to push the captains and the rest of the team. We talked about the changes we would like to see to improve the student experience. But whenever the robot came up, it was in terms of what the students would learn if we did X or Y in the offseason.

So sure, the robot is important. It's the vehicle we use to accomplish everything else. But it's not what FIRST is all about. FIRST is about those relationships between mentor and student, about inspiring the next generation through direct example and interaction. It's about exposing students to a whole world and way of thinking they've never seen before. But it's not about the robot.