The Growing Gap in FIRST & on CD, and Our Responsibility to Fix It

[jcatt]

There are so many great points on this thread, and yet I feel it will go mostly unnoticed by most of the community. I myself am usually more of a casual observer, ever more so since I graduated in 2008, but I feel compelled to share my observations going back to when I started in FIRST in 2005 as a Freshman.

I too have noticed a rather large downfall, if you will, from the CD and FIRST communities, in the way teams are treated on the Forums. When I started in FIRST I honestly did not know what on earth I was doing, but I was guided by a wise man, my Team Leader/Teacher to consult CD about anything I was unsure about. To let me learn from the community whether what I was doing was correct or not. I must say that I was reluctant to have to spend the time and effort to research my idea, I just wanted a straight up answer not caring at how I got it. This conditioned me to seek the knowledge and not just expect an answer, much like teaching someone to fish instead of fishing for them. Not only did I receive the knowledge of the community but I gained the drive, the initiative that I needed to continue with the team.

As someone said before me, it seems that current society has evolved to the point where very few students are finding the initiative to overcome the obstacles facing a rookie team. They just expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. It seems that we as mentors have failed the community, we have failed to instill the drive that keeps teams moving forward. The amount of negativity on the forms is outstanding, if I were a new student now I would be scared to post anything on here. I feel that it boils down to a lack of respect for everyone's ideas, and actions.

What has happened to being civil even at the silliest ideas? What has happened to accepting the game for what it is and discussing the best strategy to accomplish it, instead of complaining about it and discussing how we should change it. What has happened to the portal containing mostly threads about real engineering and programing problems, not just empty threads about nothing important. What happened to staying to the end of the day on Saturday, to cheering on the teams in the Eliminations and to celebrate the team who is awarded the Chairman's award, and their extra-ordinary accomplishment. It pains me to see teams leave before the chairman's award is given out, even at nationals.

If FIRST is going to succeed in its goals, then we need to help it. We need to take this community back in time to a place where no-one is ashamed to ask a question, or post a picture of a mechanism they designed. To help instill that drive back in to society that respects the elder more experience mentors and to a place where the chairman's award is once again the most revered award in FIRST. This post is probably to long and mostly a bit of a rant, but I feel compelled to speak out.

Thanks,
Jonathan