The benefits of FIRST

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by Ryan Morin

Well here's a good topic for all of you. I'm doing a thesis paper for my junior english class and I've picked what i think to be a very interesting topic. What is it you ask well I'll tell you, it is "Is FIRST beneficial to students participating in it."

Do you have any idea how much I've learned this year? =) I was almost too shy to join in past years (I'm a junior now), but I decided to try it out this year. My school is a pre-engineering academy, and a pretty large percentage of our students have parents who work as engineers. I felt like I was miles and miles behind everyone else. But then I had 6 amazing weeks of experience. I would say the best part about FIRST is the learning. Do you want examples?

Everything below is completely true. I'd never used all those tools and items I learned about and had never even heard of most of them. Everything here was something completely new I learned. (OK, except for maybe the part about guys. And planning. )


Since kick-off...

I learned how to use set screws.

I learned how to use a Leatherman, a center punch, a tap wrench, a soldering iron, a dremel, a drill press, and epoxy.

I learned what rocker switches, ground studs, 80-20, drop sliders, bearings, sprockets, speed controllers, relays, terminal ends, spades, terminal blocks, LED drivers, D-shell connectors, and PWM cables are. And how to use them.

I learned that. . .

You should never let guys tell you how to do something because their method is most likely needlessly complex. =)

You can wire an entire control panel in one day without any previous electrical experience whatsoever.

You need to take the paper off the Lexan BEFORE you mount speed controllers on it with wood screws.

All those long technical specification documents for electronics equipment aren't really that hard to understand.

Planning means everything while you're doing it and nothing once you start implementation.

Not bad for 6 weeks. =)

[Lisa Perez]

Another thing that's really great about FIRST is that it gives everyone the opportunity to work with each other and bring the best out of everyone to achieve one similar goal! Sure, we can do that on other teams... But FIRST is so different in that even if we lose, we're still happy because we've learned something. And it's fun ALL THE TIME. Everyone gets an equal opportunity.

[Ryan Morin]

Hey everyone thanks again for all the help and I hope to get more posts out of this thing. Give me what ever you want from personal experiences to something you've read anything that you think is a benefit of FIRST and hey you might just be quoted in my paper.

[JakeGallagher]

I think the proper question would be something more along the lines of:
If you can think of three, what are the things that haven't been benefits from FIRST?

Almost everything that has happened to me in FIRST has either been a simulation of the real world, or has given me skills that can help me after I graduate (I say almost because there is always an exception to every rule, and though I can't think of one now I know it's there).

[Ryan F.]

I've learned so much in one short build season that I couldn't even begin to explain it all. I've gone from seeing something and just thinking wow, to seeing it and thinking, how could I make that? Or a lot of the basics on the robot that I would have to call a mentor over to help me on, I could now probably do in my sleep.