Quotes Needed...please help. :)

[Alivia]

Hello FIRST community!
I am writing a research paper for my college english class about the declining interest of students in science and technology, and what Dean Kamen is doing to help solve this problem. i.e. I'm writing about FIRST!

I was hoping that I could quote some of the people in these forums, as you all have FIRSThand ( ) experience with this program.

If you could comment on one of the following, I would be forever grateful!
1. Excitement of build season/what build season means to you.
2. How FIRST has changed your life
3. Mentors: why do you stick with FIRST, what do you hope your students take away from you, why is FIRST important, etc.

Anything else you wish to say will help too!
Please put your full name and team number with your post, though, as I will have to cite who has said it!

Thank you all sooo much for your help, and I can't wait to see you all at next year's competition!
=)

[JohnBoucher]

Check out ebarkers signature. It states it well.

[zakk]

"I would say that FIRST has changed my life durastically, ranging from probably keeping me out of major trouble (possibly jail) because if you get in trouble youre off of the team, to having lifelong friends, to meeting people from areas of the country and world who i would have never even known, FIRST has gotten me really interested in engineering and i am hoping to go to college to be an engineer now, FIRST has really changed who i am in the shop also based on my safety precautions and my respect for people."

-Zakk Elliott
Team 1539
Clover, SC

[KathieK]

See this thread for some ideas.

Mentors: why do you stick with FIRST, what do you hope your students take away from you, why is FIRST important, etc.

If you can impact just one person by your actions it will have a ripple effect that is infinite. That is reason enough to stick it out through the tough times.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by KathieK

If you can impact just one person by your actions it will have a ripple effect that is infinite. That is reason enough to stick it out through the tough times.

That is very true. It is also true in how I am impacted. Inspiration can happen at any time in any aspect of FIRST.

3. I wait for the connection. Some students enter robotics not quite sure about it. They are on the fringe, the periphery - circling the group, wondering what the interest is. Then something happens. Maybe a design discussion. Maybe the training in how to use power tools in the shop. Maybe seeing the wonder in a young child's eyes at an outreach. Something happens and triggers a connection with the student. Sometimes it takes more than one season but when that happens - a team member is created. That is what makes everything worth it.

[Akash Rastogi]

"Ten, fifteen, or twenty years from today, some kid in FIRST will have cured Alzheimer’s, or AIDS, or Cancer or built an engine that doesn’t pollute. Somebody will win the Nobel Prize. Look at these kids. They are the future. And we are part of it by helping them figure out what to do with their lives."

- Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST

Also, featured in a July FIRST newsletter, our project Manager Bill McGowan explains the success of FIRST in our schools
http://nycnjfirst.org/newsletter_mtolive.html
There's some great info. and quotes in there.

Another newsletter features an interview type thing with one of our very successful alumni. He also has a very interesting letter in there so feel free to read it.
http://nycnjfirst.org/dicicco_success_storyl.html

Hope your essay is amazing and please post it up when you're done. =)

[synth3tk]

2 & 1: "When I was young, my father had taken me to the local university to watch an event that weekend. I didn't know what was going on, who these people were, and what they were doing here. Whether I knew if watching this event would plant a seed of interest in FIRST, I don't know. After about ten minutes, I was fascinated with the concept of designing and building a robot to 'play' with.

Joining FIRST robotics was the best decision I've made in my life. Getting to know others who are interested in the same thing, learning about concepts and designs, figuring out how to edit videos, all of these are just a few benefits of working with a team of passionate students. It was here that I learned the joys of insomnia, to truly appreciate Pepsi and donuts, that I love to learn. To build a working machine within six weeks taught me to accept and work within deadlines, which helps because I've never been that punctual in my life!

Attending a regional event is comparable to a pep rally or an OSU-MSU game. Excitement is in the air, the spirit of Gracious Professionalism throughout the pit areas, music and noise combined with the plethora of colors from team uniforms just makes for an experience one can never forget. And when the robot action stops, there's always line dancing to 'Cotton Eyed Joe' and mascots running around everywhere. Conga lines and the chicken dance. Technology is everywhere, yet the human factor is what makes an event special.

FIRST is the glue between learning and socializing, and I don't regret joining, not one bit."

[Devon27]

FIRST has completely changed my life, I used to be very shy and didn't really talk to people unless I knew them very well, but through just one year, I have become more outgoing and confident, now people can't get me to shut up. I also learned so much about the design process and building and machining parts for the robot. I became a sub-team co-captain for the mechanisms (arm and ramp) team which taught me how to be a leader. The mentors encouraged me to speak up and share my opinions and ideas, an incredibly valuable thing to be able to do for someone interested in engineering. I was very involved in alot of the outreach the team participated in and knowledgable about the robot so the mentors pushed me out of my comfort zone by putting me on the judges team for competitions, judges team talked to anyone who was walking through the pits and had questions about our team or the robot (specifically judges and scouts), we also presented Chairmans Award. Since the season ended, I have done many presentations, even one to the Michigan Education Department: Education Technology Committee, and one comming up will be to the Michigan Education Association (500 people will be there), and I can honestly say I am not nervous, before I joined a FIRST team, I was nervous about giving presentations for a class, but now I know I can present to anyone. FIRST and Team RUSH have taught me to be more out going, confident, and not to care what others think, just to be myself.

sorry, I know it is long, but there is so much to say and so much more I could have said

[Alivia]

I would just like to send a huge THANK YOU! to everyone who sent me a quote or gave me advice on how to find some. You all helped me a lot!

I would post my final copy on here, as requested, but I'm rather new to CD still, and don't know how to do that...

But once again, thank you to everyone who helped out!
Power of the FIRST community always inspires me!

[synth3tk]

You're talking about a Word document or something similar, right? Just go to CD-Media, and under the "Papers" button click "Upload". After filling out the form, click "Browse" in the "Attached Files" section near the bottom then find the document on your computer and hit "Open". Just "Submit" and you're done! Be sure to post a link to the page in here when you're done.

Glad to help out a fellow FIRST member! That's what we're here for.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Everyone should make a personal goal to learn something new each day.

[whytheheckme]

There's a lot of good quotes in the spotlight list:

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/spotlightlist.php?

Just a thought.

Jacob

[ebarker]

Hello Alivia,

I'm concerned about how our culture and our citizens view STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). I'm concerned about how career influencers guide, or fail to guide students into STEM career options. I'm concerned about how even FIRST students view engineering. (I can elaborate later).

FIRST provides a platform to push agendas that I think are important It is one of the best tools in my toolbox. For what I want to accomplish FIRST is probably one of, or is the basis of one of the biggest 'clubs" I have in my toolbox to bang people over the head.

The primary goals that Dean and Woodie want to accomplish align well with my personal goals. If FIRST was purely a sport competition or simply a robot advocacy society with no goal of cultural change then I'd have to "cash my chips in" and find another vehicle to work with.

My signature is at the bottom, the one John referred to.

Ed Barker
TEAM 1311
The Kell High School Robotics Team
Marietta, Georgia
edbarker@kellrobotics.org

[vivek16]

Originally Posted by ebarker

Hello Alivia,

I'm concerned about how our culture and our citizens view STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). I'm concerned about how career influencers guide, or fail to guide students into STEM career options. I'm concerned about how even FIRST students view engineering. (I can elaborate later).

FIRST provides a platform to push agendas that I think are important It is one of the best tools in my toolbox. For what I want to accomplish FIRST is probably one of, or is the basis of one of the biggest 'clubs" I have in my toolbox to bang people over the head.

The primary goals that Dean and Woodie want to accomplish align well with my personal goals. If FIRST was purely a sport competition or simply a robot advocacy society with no goal of cultural change then I'd have to "cash my chips in" and find another vehicle to work with.

My signature is at the bottom, the one Al referred to.

Ed Barker
TEAM 1311
The Kell High School Robotics Team
Marietta, Georgia
edbarker@kellrobotics.org

The reason FIRST exists it to get people to consider engineering/math/science activities/careers/etc as a positive desirable pursuit. It is to give relevance to all that stuff students study in school and hopefully motives students to pursue careers. It is about wall to wall educational impact, about motivating students to take a forward leaning stance and start taking an active, not passive stance toward learning. Hands on learning is way more fun than chalk and talk.

EDIT: i was just listing ebarker's signature.

[Akash Rastogi]

This is full of some great quotes taken directly from FIRSTers and mentors from the Science Channel. Great Info and always entertaining
FIRST on the Science Channel