Unrelated?

[t3hroxor]

Anyone going to college for something completely unrelated to robotics?

I'm majoring in molecular biology.

[fredliu168]

Business Administration and Mathematics double degree. Mainly focusing on the business side.

[Billfred]

My major is Marketing, and my minor is Media Arts. (At least for 30 more days...)

[moojoe]

originally went to school after robotics for Theatre Design and Technology with a focus in Technical Direction...quite different from robotics.
but now I'm going to school for Technology Education, since I realized I believe in what FIRST teaches so strongly, and want to continue that to future generations.

[ebarker]

Any major is related to robotics if your experience with FIRST has inspired you and given you a more positive perspective of the relevance of science, technology, engineering, and math.

[Jessica Boucher]

Although everyone from Babson leaves with a BS in Business Administration, I focused in Technology Marketing & Corporate Strategy. I currently work for intelitek in Technical Support and get to work with robots on a daily basis. When you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to your goals.

Don't be fooled that engineering is the only true way and if you don't follow the path, you're a failure. You must ask yourself what your strengths are and apply them so you are happy and successful with what you do.

That being said, the technology skills that you learn here are golden, and should be nourished. You're already ahead because you know how science applies in real world situations, and if that means taking a class here or there or teaching yourself to gain a deeper knowledge later, go for it!

Additionally, if you had a positive experience in FIRST, then you're still a FIRST success story - your positive experience may inspire someone else to be involved, and as long as the program is growing that's what is important. Your experience changes the culture!

[BandChick]

I'm a Digital Media Arts major, but I wouldn't say it's unrelated to FIRST. While it's not science or engineering, it's still something that was essential to my experience with my FIRST team and the organization as a whole. Graphic design (flyers, t-shirt logos, button designs) and web design are two things I significantly improved on because of FIRST.

So I might not get to build robots in school, but I do get to create drag & drop web applications to "Build your own robot" or put together informational brochures advertising robots or competitions. I get to design t-shirt logos around robot functions.

Somehow, once FIRST hooks you, everyone finds a way to do something related with it.

Even molecular biologists - trust me, my mom is one, and she's in FIRST still. =)

[cziggy343]

im thinking about going into journalism... but im 16, i still have time to decide

[darkhaas10]

I am planning on Majoring in Cultural Anthropology but I agree that if you can apply anything you learned in FIRST to your chosen field than it is at least somewhat robotics related (even if what you apply is how to do a job well in a short amount of time). This comment is also coming from a sixteen year old who has time to change.

[Cynette]

After a year in computer science, my son switched to Culinary. Hard to find the relation there, but it still doesn't mean he was any less inspired by his time on a FIRST (FRC) team!

[ebarker]

Nearly every student that participates in FIRST will likely become a parent and/or teacher and/or career influencer of some type.

It is the power of exponents at work. If you can inspire only two people in the future then in a few generations the entire universe will be touched.

[dipmeinaluminum]

Television Studio.

[Mark McLeod]

I'd hate to have the team be limited to pre-engineering students.
The best ideas, the best solutions to problems, the most encompassing answers are incubated in diversity of thought, outlook, perspective, needs.

While we've had a lot of students go on to study Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Computer Science, etc. engineering, and related hard science fields, such as, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Criminology,
we also have had a healthy mixture of some of our strongest student team members entering what you might think of, on first glance, as unrelated fields, such as,

• Political Studies
• Accounting
• Business
• Fashion Institute of Technology (but hey fashion is high technology right?)
• Graphic Design
• Art
• International Studies
• English
• Psychology (I wonder what that means...)

My son who got me into all this is pursuing a PhD in English/Psychology, while minoring in Computer Science. My daughter is a science major, and will probably choose a Biology major.


P.S.
My degree and profession is Computer Science, however, one of my minors is in technical theater. My first professional job was technical director for a black box theater. My wife has a Master of Fine Arts in Drama and her first professional job was stage managing for the Baltimore Opera. She now teaches English at CW Post.
Yet we're both fully involved in Robotics, and I think we bring some interesting perspectives to the students.

[TubaMorg]

Originally Posted by t3hroxor

Anyone going to college for something completely unrelated to robotics?

I'm majoring in molecular biology.

I got my bachelor's degree in molecular biology and am almost done with my doctoral thesis in computational biology. I've pursued a number of paths in my life. Some I got paid for, some just because:

Line chef
Naval nuclear propulsion plant mechanic
carpentry/furniture maker
auto mechanic
plumbing
electronics
computer science
molecular biology
and, of course, robotics
I can also sew, weld, and landscape

People sometimes ask me how in the world do all of these relate? I think it just boils down to me wanting to know how things work.

Point is (and this is important to you HS students fretting about what you are going to do with your life), picking a major doesn't lock you into a particular path in life. We have a number of physicists working in our biology lab. The most important thing you should pick up from school is learning how to learn. Everything else in life is gravy!

Many new comers to FIRST become frustrated when they discover that there is no single resource that tells them how to build the dang robot. They have to learn how to learn.

We often have HS interns come work in our lab over the summer. Not all of them plan on pursuing biology in college, but they just want to see what it's like to work in a lab.

Follow your interests and don't worry about whether your major seems to conflict with other interests. If you think about it, you will see that there is a common thread amongst all your interests.

[Beth Sweet]

As others have said, it's hard to find a career where FIRST does not contribute.

My original major in college was Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Spanish. The journalism came from my extensive press release/article writing that I did from robotics, and found myself enjoying that.

After I realized that I wasn't finding as much fulfillment as I wanted from journalism, I switched my major to accounting, a major which, at my school, actually has a higher GPA requirement than any form of engineering. When I started working with 1504, I found myself more in the business dealings of the team, and that I enjoyed that.

Find something you enjoy doing and try that out. Honestly, a FIRST Robotics team is essentially its own business. It runs on a budget, a production schedule, you must promote to be successful, you're trying to expand constantly, you're trying to do the most using the least possible... it's a business.