Girls,Why did you join FIRST???

[Jill1022]

I always liked doing stuff that not a lot of girls did....things that not a lot of people do actually. Our team is very very small and there aren't any teams in our area, so its a rather unique thing here.
I'm also a nerd at heart and I like that at first I may appear one way, but I'm actually pretty different (smarter, ect) once you get to know me.


Its pretty cool because women sometimes have that silly, stupid, and womanly image in the world and robotics has a nerdy, loserish (Sorry!) image in some places, so to be able to prove BOTH of those stereotypes wrong is pretty amazing!

[Laura 1547]

I think it was pretty much three reasons I joined:

1. My schools an all girls school so it's pretty obvious why there are girls on the team lol In chapel when they first made the announcement it looked like so much fun! (and it turned out to be even more fun than i thought it would be!!!)

3. My Dad's an engineer so I think he had a big influence on me. When I went to Take Your Kids To Work Day (I don't know if people in the states have it or not) I went to his work at Ontario Power Generation. I got a tour of the plant and it seemed pretty cool (especially the pink doors...yay for pink!). He explained stuff for me and I learned so much. I spent part of the afternoon with one of the few women in my dad's section and she said that there weren't very many other women in her classes when she was at university.

4. I want to show the world that women can build robots too!!!

[Tom Bottiglieri]

Well see theres an interesting story behind why I joined..

Oh wait..

Wrong thread.

[BigHeavenlyEyes]

i joined first robotics cuz i thought it would be cool, and i was right. It was one of the clubs we could join at the beginning of the year, so i said "why not?" i met a lot of cool people and learned a lot of stuff about CAD and designing. I also learned stuff about scouting, and public relations. First is a really good way to also earn college credit.

[Liz C]

In my freshman year, my physics teacher said "Liz, how would you like to build a robot?"
And I (being totally unaware of what FIRST was, and quite frankly scared of the idea) said "I wouldn't!"
and he said "Great! I'll sign you up."

I got dragged into FIRST against my will, and it was the best thing that's ever happened to me. Although that might only work on a few innocent and confused freshman like I was, so I wouldn't reccomend using that tactic as a recruitment technique

[vic burg]

Well, i first found out about robotics the summer between my 8 th and 9th grade school years because i had started to volunteer at the Museum of Discovery and Science, and they were having a demo/ off season event and I saw how cool it was. Then I ran into one of my old friends who was involved with it. I asked her about all of it and she told me about it. Little did I know that Dillard had a robotics team. And when I discovered it, by others telling me about it, I believe, I wanted to join. Also, I have been impacted greatly but FIRST and robotics in general because I have seen what it takes to do teamwork. I was always interested in building things because my dad is a carpentar, and I am the tom-boy girlie. Plus, two of my girl cousins and an uncle are engineerers. My one cousin designed the GPS system in cars but, also, when I found out about RCU, I was estatic. I really hope we can get as many girls into FIRST as possible.... maybe even an all girls team somewhere.... although I do know one thing, some of the guys I know despise having girls doing mechanical work.... lol.

[tiffany34990]

Thanks everyone for imputing their stories... It really make me day reading a lot of all of your posts.

[Pat Chen]

As I read through the different replies ... I am glad that girls are interested in FIRST....as a Mom...growing up in the time when it was not cool to like this kind or even using tools....but girls.........remember ........you have to stay connected ...one way is through RCU....since they have the blessing from FIRST.. ...so if you do not have a chapter near you....create one .... let RCU know....and someone will help you.... yes ..playing with the big toys are fun

[Ashley Christine]

Well, my story could be long.

I was on the indoor track team and fractured my back pole-vaulting. So I needed something to do. This [at the time] cute guy that I was getting to know was on the team, so it was nice cuz we got to hang out and get to know eachother. But he soon got.. well, he liked me too much. But anyways, I saw all the stuff they were doing, and I was like wow, these are things that are really awesome.

Then I went to my first FIRST regional. It was so amazing, and a lot of fun. I found it so much more fun than cheerleading [which I love so much but cant do anymore cuza my back.]

FIRST is like the perfect middle for me. I am a smart girl and I love computers, so in FIRST I get to use my brain, but I also get to have fun and be energetic like in cheerleading.

[And there are boys ] hehe.

I think its awesome though cuz now I am looking into new career/college options and stuff that I was too afraid was just a guy thing...

[Winged Wonder]

There are actually a few reasons why I joined FIRST... but primarily, it would have to be because my older brother was involved, and he invited me to local competitions just to see what it was like, and once I learned about the mission of FIRST, I got hooked. Ever since I was little, I've enjoyed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields, and the opportunity to learn so much about these fields was irresistable, especially since I knew I'd be joining the Pink Team, which meant I'd get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work out at the KSC Prototype Lab with real NASA engineers--the same people who send up the Orbiter!--to design and build a fully functional, high quality robot.

Of course I still haven't been able to learn much of the actual mechanical, electical, and programming aspects of building the robot since i've been stuck with mostly all Public Relations projects (which mind you, I don't mind doing... I'd just like to try something new), but that argument should be left for a post for another thread at another time. :-p

[dubious elise]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

Well see theres an interesting story behind why I joined..

Gee, I would have loved to have heard that Tom
Honestly though, these stories have been a blast to read!

My reason was three-fold. I went to a rather "isolated" Catholic grade school through 8th grade and we rarely heard about anything that went on at the local public high school even though they were just down the street. In about 5th grade, some members from the robotics team came down to visit us and I recognized one of the gals on the team as being a former St. Jerome student. I was super excited and vowed that I would try to join robotics when I got to high school.
Being the last of 5 kids didn't help my cause when I went to high school, everyone expected me to go through the same sports and classes and clubs as the rest of my siblings had done. Well, I did do the same sports, and I took the same classes (at a much younger age), but I certainly didn't want to join DECA or JSA or be a part of the local bands and play groups. Naturally, robotics just seemed to be a load of fun!
Finally, though he may not know it, Ricky Q. was the final factor in deciding to join team 269. My freshman year, I had honors Chemistry with Ricky and a few other robotics team members. As I soon found out, the teacher was also one of the mentors. Truth be told, I was rather jealous of the guys for going down to Texas and different regionals all of the time So, the next year, when I had Physics and was (literally) surrounded in my seat by 6 guys from the team, I had no choice but to come to the first meeting and see what it really was all about!

I'm so glad that I haven't looked back since

[Amanda N.]

1) My brother. He was on the team in high school and my dad is an engineer mentor for the team. I remember during the last couple weeks of build season, my mom and I hardly would hardly ever see them... and when we did they would talk about the robot! They came back from their first national competition with sooo many great stories about how fun it was. I could tell it was something my brother really loved, and he spent the summer before I entered high school convincing me to join. I joined, and had a good time that fall and during the build season. and I was addicted after my first regional...

2) I really am interested in math/science/technology kind of stuff, so there's a good chance I would have ended up on the team without my brother's encouragement. But I think that having someone give me advice and encourage me to join and get involved helped me become one of the most active members and a driver. I probably would have been too shy to get very involved otherwise.

3) Not everyone can say they were on a robotics team/drove a robot in high school... I like that I'm involved in something that's kind of unique but WAY cool!

[Steph]

I joined after hearing about the program from my grade 9 science teacher. It was our team's rookie year, so no one really knew what to expect, but my curiosity got the better of me. Boy am I glad it did. First year our team was a lot of seniors, with only 4 freshman. The seniors that year were a big part of what made me want to continue so badly. They sort of adopted me as a little sister, showed me how to operate things, and really tried to make me feel like I was making a contribution. My goal since then has been to help the freshman and first year members to feel as welcome as I did that first year. Being one of only a handfull of girls was also a great experience, though I do wish we had more, so they too could experience what I have for 3 years now. That's my goal for next year: get more girls.

[quedeseastu]

Insert generic reply about cute boys or something. No really...it's the power tools. there is nothing that gets my adrenalin going more than power tools. It's like I have the power of the univers between my little hands. (insert maniacal laughter here) Wow, I really need to get a life.
Now back to playing the text based game of Hitchhikers Guide to the galaxy. I rock!

[MiscEllania]

I joined because there was a huge poster in my school advertising the team when it had just started. I didn't know anyone else on the team, but it looked like a lot of fun - although I had a completely wrong idea of what to expect. Think Robotech or Transformers.

Plus, I was sick of my brother always getting to gut the computers and cars instead of me.