Girls on FIRST teams

[laurenlacy]

As a female on a FIRST team I must say my experience has been nothing but wonderful... because I made it that way.

FIRST, as I've seen it, has so many wonderful opportunities for young women. The problem is that they don't always want to reach for those opportunities. I will say that FIRST is maybe a place where the girls may face a greater challenge, but those sorts of challenges appear for everyone in different ways, and all that one can do is to try and overcome them.

I honestly came onto my robotics team for the business aspect, and would argue that you DON'T need to come on knowing what you're doing. I had no idea what a phillips head screwdriver was. I was there to make pretty fliers, and I still LOVE doing that. I also love that there are times when I come home and my mom is just like "don't you dare come into the house until I get everything covered because you are filthy." But I was there to learn, and I learned fast and I paid attention, and this year I was one of the core group of students who built our robot. Just like anyone, young man or woman new to the team, I had to not be afraid to ask questions. And yes, there were times when I looked ridiculous not knowing what something was, but that wasn't anything to do with me having ovaries or whatnot, it was just simply as a person who didn't know what they were doing.

Basically, I think the FIRST experience for young women is what you make of it. Yes, there will be guys who decide they have to supervise closely and then take over everything you do, but there are all sorts of girls who think that guys can't do certain things well, and that's the way our society will probably be for quite some time. My experience in FIRST has been nothing short of amazing, and I'm really excited to continue with it for the rest of my life.