FIRST Nationals on "Regular" TV

[Ken Leung]

Hope you had a good night sleep the night before ;-), because if you didn’t, chances are you won’t make it to the end of this post.


I've always believed that being who I was will not limit me to who I will be. That's what keeps me trying to learn more and become a better person. Otherwise I would've settled being someone ordinary and not care about anything around my life.

Looking back at 5 years ago, I would have NEVER qualified to be someone in the "special group of students that embody the intellectual capital that will define the future of this country"... Even now I don't think I do. I didn't even want to join the robotics team because I never had the chance to understand the program and what it’s trying to do. I am just an ordinary guy trying hard to do what I think is right and worth while, and I am glad I had the opportunity to slip through the crack and some how be part of a group of bright students that totally deserve to do FIRST, or so FIRST believed.

But, considering students like me in high school who got just as much impact from FIRST as another other bright students, I don't think FIRST did anything wrong to let them participate in the program. I would even go as far as to say, FIRST made a lot of impact because they didn't limit the "quality" of its participants.

But... I am not here to argue what's right and what's wrong. I can only tell people what I believe is the best way to look at this.


People learn at a different pace, and grow up to be different people depending what they've experienced in their lives. Everyone is born to learn whatever is taught to them, and the environment around them shapes them into who they are. Despite some physical limitations, most people have the chance to be successful, given the right opportunities.

There is no real way to judge the effectiveness of FIRST on the students when they haven't even experienced it before. Sometimes it can be really effective on some very bright students in science classes, sometimes it can't. There are many factors, including the level of challenge in the robotics competition, the team the student is going to join, the amount of exposure they got at the competition, etc. Just because someone is bright doesn't mean FIRST is perfect for them, and vice-versa. Maybe there are other programs that can better challenge those bright individuals to become more interested in science/technology, maybe FIRST is the best thing for them. Lots and lots of maybes.

The fact is, we don't know how much impact it will have on the students until they give FIRST a try, and FIRST give them a try.


The core of the issue is, is there really a need to limit who may or may not participant in FIRST?

Well, you have to consider the factors that limit the amount of participants in FIRST Robotics Competition, like the capacities of regionals, and the realistic workload for FIRST, and the amount of resources this country have for FIRST teams... IF there isn't enough room for everybody, how do you decide who can participate and who can't? If there isn't enough money to go around, how do you decide who gets the money?

Then there are things mentioned in an early post in this thread, "Will making FIRST appealing to the masses lower the quality of the competition?" What is the quality of the competition? Is it the amount of excitements in the game? Is it the TV ratings? Is it the level of challenges in the competition? Is it how cool the robots look and perform?


There are too many things to consider, because FRC is a lot of different things mixed together in a big giant salad bowl ;-). There is the part about inspiration and how winning isn't important, and there is the competition part where the students should try their hardest to win, mix that in with how much fun it is to watch the game, and how much go on outside the 6 weeks and competition, you got a salad more complicated then the best of Chefs on the Food network can create. Maybe, the program is still effective even if the game is simpler and more suitable for TV because of what goes on outside the competitions and 6 weeks. Maybe, the game has to be challenging and confusing enough to inspire the students, but cannot be aired on TV because it's not appealing to the audience. Maybe there is no need for TV exposure because FIRST is big enough to draw enough participants. Maybe there is really a need for TV exposure to get more companies/industry to sponsor FIRST. Again, lots and lots of maybes.


In the end, we are just trying to do the best we can, consider as many angle as possible, and make the best decision and live with it. That's what being a grown up is all about. There is no one to tell you what's right and wrong, and you can only do the best you can, and be satisfied.


IMHO, I believe what matters the most is the impact on students. If there is no quality in the effectiveness of the program, there is no reason for it to exist. I believe it is more worthwhile to make a huge impact on a smaller group of students, then to make little impact on everyone students out there. Of course, we WANT to make a huge impact on EVERYONE students out there, but that is impossible right now.

Having said that, I still don't believe there is a need to limit participation level by the level of intelligence of the students. The limit should be based on the realistic amount of events FIRST can hold (determine by the budget, scheduling, and how many teams can play in a match), the amount of resources available to the teams (determined by how complex a machine they have to build), how many students a team can have (determined by how many people can work on the robot and other team activities base on the game), PROVIDING the game will have the MAXIMUM impact on the students and FIRST participants.

But that’s just my opinion.