"I'm not that smart"

[gorrilla]

its funny my teachers are really interested in first but none of my other classmates are


i usually tell people that its not about just building a robot,anyone could do that its about having fun as a team and building life skills at you will need if you
want to have a career in technology!

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by christina_omg

I go to a tech high school and i remember at an open house event for incoming freshman cosmetology had a spot across from ours. i was talking seriously to these two girls when their teacher came over and was like 'they're doing nails over there'.

I like pretty nails but I have to admit this was a real eye opener - a 'holy cow' moment. I've read many many posts in CD but this one soars to the #1 spot as a reminder of how far we have to go in breaking through conventional mentality/thinking and expectations. Wow just wow.

[MadeAtMidnight]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

I like pretty nails but I have to admit this was a real eye opener - a 'holy cow' moment. I've read many many posts in CD but this one soars to the #1 spot as a reminder of how far we have to go in breaking through conventional mentality/thinking and expectations. Wow just wow.

Maybe they could combine engineering and nails -- http://www.imaginail.com/nailfashionprinter.htm

Team logos on fingernails, anyone?

[samir13k]

Originally Posted by SafetyGracie

Yeah, we always try to show them Samir. =)

ah, i see we are ripping on your electronics teacher!!! lol

[Demothesis]

I generally find that some of the (pardon me) nerdier members of FIRST teams are not the best people to answer this question because they only solidify the steriotype. I would suggest bringing over the most sincere member of any given group, and have that person tell the mis-led passer-by that FIRST is the BEST way to get that smart! Mention the amazing mentors and the fact that FIRST aims at teaching kids how to have fun with technology. Remind them that every kid, especially you, started knowing nothing, and that this is the case for many FIRST team members. It only takes one season to be considered just as 'smart.'

Demothesis

PS You know, we're really just havin' fun - even if it happens to be considered smart....

[cooker52]

This is somewhat random, but fits right in here.

We are given a flame being in FIRST. We have two options, let the flame burn as it is and die down, or add to it and make it burn brighter. We want this flame to burn as bright as we can, and the way we are going to do that is to get the world to see that we aren't the special "smart" kids that they "aren't". This entire thread is the way to make our fire burn brighter, so all can see that FIRST is for everyone.

I have seen so many great responses to "I'm not that smart" that, the next time you are encountered with that kind of person, they will join your team.

[Chris_Elston]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

So if everyone is about the same then the response should be "you are already smart enough, you just need to focus on something. Join the team and we will help you learn how to do that."

What a great response.

[Rich Kressly]

Lots of great stuff here!!!

Take a look at this article that I was first alerted to by an English Dept. colleague about 2 years ago: http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/

It seems as though, in our efforts to build self esteem in young people, we inadvertantly sent the wrong message to all youngsters by telling some that they are "smart". It also seems as though a much better parenting and teaching apporach lies in the phrases, "You must have worked hard." and "Taking that chance was worth it in the end, wasn't it?"

This is one of the reasons I have found over my career that the students who are identified as "gifted" are often the same students who don't like taking risks. Great kids, but in a subconscious effort to remain "smart" like they've been told, many tend to stay within the boundaries that allow them to be "right".

Sadly, if we allow this trend to continue, our best and brightest (which is more people than you think) will not be prepared to "fail" and persevere, nor will they leave their comfort zone long enough to develop those crucial creative abilities.

[Dmentor]

I’m in a funky mood today. Probably sleep deprivation... I apologize in advance for offending you.

Don’t confuse training with intelligence.
Don’t confuse experience with genius.

Theological matters aside, we are a presumptuous species of animal to deem ourselves smart. In reality we are all cosmically stupid. If measured on this cosmic intelligence scale what is the difference between any of us? Let’s get over ourselves and just go do the best we can with what we have.

[Stephen Kowski]

Originally Posted by SafetyGracie

Our team had a booth set up at our 4H fair, trying to get attention from kids who might want to join. Some of us were driving around the '06 and '08 robot, and the other half were building a new, vex type robot just for the fun of it.
Well, a few boys seemed pretty interested, they were watching us drive and build, and when I asked him if he was interested in joining the team, he said "I'm not that smart."
That's not the first time I've had that response, I've been getting it a lot lately. Does anyone else have this problem, and more importantly, how do we dispell the myth that FIRST and the robotics teams in general are only for the genius and the tech geek?

If they knew how to do it all already, this program wouldn't be needed. That is the beauty of this program, it is about learning, even for the parents and mentors.

I tell them my story when I hear stuff about "I'm not smart", or "I can't ever figure this out". I spent a year in FIRST before I even heard righty tighty lefty loosey. I didn't know anything about tools, robots or engineering. I knew one thing, this program got me three days excused absence from school. That's all I knew, and over time I learned a lot (and still learn to this day). FIRST was the best thing that accidentally happened to me.

Smart and stupid, these are just words, labels people put on someone or something. Can you work hard? Are you willing to learn and challenge yourself? That is all that is needed in FIRST.

I would recommend putting a human face to this experience and telling what you've learned and seen accomplished. Most people seem to relate to that really well.

[samir13k]

Honestly, when I joined 1501 and was told that I would be on the Electronics team, I had no idea about electronics. I did not even know which color was positive, and which one was negative. Now, I am making sparks fly. literaly, but now after one season, i can wire a bot myself, do a little bit of programming, and I'm ok at mechanical. so overall, i was clueless, and i was also a really good friend with The electronics guy, so while goofing off and playing around as i usually do, i became really good at it.

I remember the first time I looked at the First wiring diagram, I said "How am I supposed to learn all this." I still refer back to the diagram all the time, but it was actually alot easier than it looked!

[Gboehm]

I'm not that smart, so my senior year(06-07) my team made me the manager/driver... The team felt I couldnt hurt anything that way.

[Carlee10]

This is the way I felt when I joined, and what I said. I knew nothing about robotics, but the senior I was freinds with through band said it was fun, and I was always interested in how things moved and why. Now look at me. I'm hooked! I can fix things on the robot, and the things I can't fix I at least know a little about. As long as you try, and learn. I'm CONSTNATLY asking questions, from blatanltly obvious to thoughtful and well thought out. I've seen smart and creative answers in this thread. If people find out I'm the team, and they say "I'm not nearly smart enough for that" or "Dang, you must be smart!" I just tell them that its not about being smart, and talk to them. But it doesn't hurt to be a quick learner, especially during build season.

$0.02

[Andrew Schreiber]

Looking back on all the answers I seem to notice that we are all telling them they SHOULD do FRC. I agree FRC is a great program but it isn't for everyone. What we may want to tell them is to try it, if it isn't for you then learn from that and move on. (Don't use the term quit) No shame in learning from your past and moving onto what you do want to do.

[SlaminSwimster]

I do a lot of recruiting events and i get the whole i'm not smart enough routine all the time. I've just basically started saying " look at the beginning of this year, i had no idea about any of this stuff i'm telling you." Some kids listen others don't