Eating lead in 2000

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Posted by Daniel.   [PICTURE: SAME | NEW | HELP]


Student on team #192, Gunn Robotics Team, from Henry M Gunn Senior High School and NASA Ames.

Posted on 5/31/99 7:45 PM MST


In Reply to: Eating lead in 2000 posted by michael bastoni on 5/31/99 9:00 AM MST:



Playing is fun! I'll give you that.

But...

Where do we actually gain the leadership, communication, and all of the 36 other skill sets you alluded to? Is it in Florida? I don't think so. I learned communication during the weeks of corporate presentations our team made, I learned communication during the design reviews when I was trying to sell my idea to the team, I learned communication when I sat for four hours in a room with my advisor, explaining why I think we the students could fix the design on our own. I did not learn communication skills while I watched my team raise the floppies at 1:40 into our final qualification match. Granted, it was one of the most intensely gripping moments of my life! I just didn’t learn all that much...

There is so much I’ve gained from this competition. I’ll tell you, this competition has changed me a great deal. I came into FIRST sophomore year as the timid little guy who took his seat in the back row at the first meeting and raised his hand for the popular choice during the vote for leader. Since then, I have been transformed into the full-blown unanimously elected co-captain of my 60 member, student run robotics team. I feel what happened to me was exactly what Dean Kamen had going through his devious little head when he designed FIRST.

I don’t credit it to play time. Play time serves as the hook to catch the worm -- it makes this competition look good from the outside. But being an insider I know the secret: play time is just a show. I’m not saying I don’t think play time should increase. I love play time and I think it’s the perfect resolution to the weeks of sweat, tears, and coffee that go into this competition.

So...

Bring it on! Play time’s fine by me!

I just think maybe we’re getting our priorities mixed up if we feel play time is the central part of this competition. The inspiration is the build and everything else that goes on behind the scenes; the play is more of a motivation.

Here’s what to do...

If inspiration is what we’re looking for, we need the adults to back off! True, some kids are visual learners. Most, however, learn by DOING. I learned what I learned, not because I watched an engineer design my robot, but because I watched an engineer tell me how to make MY design a little bit better. Engineers and teachers are vital to this competition, but we must learn how to USE them without ABUSING them. I don’t mean this as an insult to the way any of you may choose to run your teams, just as a suggestion. I am putting this forward straight because I feel we are all capable of dealing with other people’s opinions without getting all excited. So bear with me. I simply feel I could not have been transformed the way I have, without having been put at an equal level with the engineers on GRT. We worked side by side, as colleagues. Sometimes they were right, and sometimes I was right. I’d like to think that lately those occasions have started to balance out. The students aren’t the only ones learning here. Lets learn from each other...

So...

Start by trying to learn from what I have to say, because I know this from experience. It happened to me.

If we want our students to become engineers, we have to start by TREATING them like engineers.


-Daniel