Non-Engineering Majors Who Loved FIRST

[Ryan Dognaux]

Yup.. this thread is for me too. I love robots, I love FIRST... but engineering??.. No. I can already tell that's just not something I want to be doing 10 years down the road. That's probably why I do graphics/animation/scouting on the team... and I enjoy it. I could have chosen that road of working on electronics or drive train my freshman year, but I went where my true interests lie. You just gotta go with what you feel because you don't want to end up 1/2 through college only to discover your true interests lie in a field totally different than your major Now, it does seem like that the non-engineer-bound people do get the shaft sometimes... but I guess that's more of a team issue.

So... at the moment I'm browsing colleges, finding out if they offer any computer graphics majors... and just doing what I wanna do. I know the world needs more engineers, but FIRST isn't all about engineers and robots... that's why it's so great.

To all those who are not interested in an engineering field - do not be ashamed, there are many Tell us your story.

[Wetzel]

This thread is me, as well.

I have always loved tinkering with things, my dad has always fixed things rather then replace them, and had me help him. So building the robot was a really cool thing for me. But I started up into higher math, it started to really kick my butt. I was looking for something else, and found emergancy medicne. I am currently an EMT and probally going to VCU to continue in medicine, probaly to be a ER nurse, but perhaps a PA or even a doctor (but 7 more years of school isnt that appealing to me).

I love FIRST, and the challange of figureing out the game and making the things work, but getting down into the 'real' enginnering of actual dimensions and measureing stresses, I start to get lost. I can picture the actions of the forces in my head and get a good idea, but can't follow when trying to calculate them.

So I found something else that is a challange, changes often, and I enjoy. FIRST still had a large impact on me, more then most people will ever realise from where I am now. I'm starting to ramble as it is late and I am tired so I will finnish this and goto bed.

I am a non-engineering major who still loves FIRST.

Wetzel

[Ryan Dognaux]

I'm glad that some universities offer scholarships that aren't just focused on engineering (through FIRST). It gives some of us a chance at financial aid...

[Amanda Morrison]

There aren't many of us out there who love both English and FIRST.

But I can definitely say that while that may be my area of study, FIRST still lets me learn a little bit about engineering in the meantime.

Maybe there aren't any famous English teaching/majoring FIRSTers yet... maybe we'll have to change that.

[Aaron Knight]

I'm a dual major Computer Science (programming, not really engineering IMHO) and History at Syracuse University myself. I just don't have the engineering mindset/whatever. I just like the program - it's fun!

[Clark Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Amanda Morrison

There aren't many of us out there who love both English and FIRST.

But I can definitely say that while that may be my area of study, FIRST still lets me learn a little bit about engineering in the meantime.

Maybe there aren't any famous English teaching/majoring FIRSTers yet... maybe we'll have to change that.

If i'm not mistaken I think Jason Morrella was an English teacher.

[Amanda Morrison]

I stand very corrected. Jason Morella serves as a fine role model for English-loving FIRSTers.

Maybe we'd ought to find someone better at basketball, though?

[Jeremy]

Yeah I love FIRST and every thing its is about but as far as a major I am a Computer Animation Major but now that I think about it FIRST works with Computer Animation

[Jessica Boucher]

Which scholarships are you talking about (besides the animation one for the art school and the teacher scholarship)?

Last time I checked (5 minutes ago), it was mostly science-technology based, and for specific schools for the most part. 5 million dollars or not, the scholarships are worthless unless they're filled. I don't know what the exact coorelation is, but maybe there should be some research on the normal costs of these schools, the average income of the towns that the students who are encouraged to apply come from, and what kind of a dent the scholarships actually do.

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally Posted by Jessica Boucher

Which scholarships are you talking about (besides the animation one for the art school and the teacher scholarship)?

Last time I checked (5 minutes ago), it was mostly science-technology based, and for specific schools for the most part. 5 million dollars or not, the scholarships are worthless unless they're filled. I don't know what the exact coorelation is, but maybe there should be some research on the normal costs of these schools, the average income of the towns that the students who are encouraged to apply come from, and what kind of a dent the scholarships actually do.

There are some engineer-major specific scholarships, but there are others that just require you to have been on a FIRST Robotics Team. However, as you mentioned, the engineer-specific scholarships seem to be worth a lot more (like full tuition) than other general ones.

[Jessica Boucher]

And if you dig a little deeper into the descriptions for the "you only have to be on a FIRST team to apply" scholarships, the schools specialize in science & tech related fields (except for that one Christian school).

Another good research topic would be to plot these schools on a map, see the regions in which students are applying, and see the schools that aren't getting their scholarships fulfilled. It may be that a certain section of the nation is applying and won't apply to schools on the other end of the nation because of family issues or lack of funds for transportation.

Again, its all about the impact that scholarship would make.

[indieFan]

Yes, Jason Morrella was an English teacher, as was I. (I, however, gave it up and went back to school for an engineering degree under the idea that engineering couldn't be as difficult as teaching 8th graders.)

For those that are into English, I'm curious what your favorite genre/time period is. My personal preferences are the Renaissance and Middle English.

indieFan

[Lisa Rodriguez]

I'm SOO happy this post it here!!
I have been in FIRST for 3 years now, and I'm a junior. IEverytime I talk to someone about FIRST, people ask me what kind of engineer I want to be, my general reply is "no way, that's just not me." I'm not a engineer person, sure, I like helping putting the robot together, helping maintain and repart it, but I will never be an engineer. I see what out engineers do and almost faint. There's no way I could ever be an engineer and do all the math and work. I'm currently looking at marine biology for a major, and if there's a team near or from my college (whatever it will be) I will DEFINETLY help, and I woudn't trade the experience for ANYTHING. FIRST is about more than science and technology, it's like any group or people working together and using various skills. I have learned how to speak publicly ( i used to freak out, now i do it 2-3 times a week) and how to deal with people and teenagers (yahh go us!). I have learned to fraternize and suck up without being obvious () and had immeasureable amounts of fun. It's good to see scholarship money for non-engineering major. And its good to see a post about it and know I'm not the only one!!

[Todd Derbyshire]

This thread has been long overdue...

Currently right now I am a sophmore at the University of New Hampshire Dual majoring in Justice Studies/ Psychology. This was a far cry from what I originally stated on my applications to each school during my senior year at high school. I was accepted to the BU's, Penn State's for engineering but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do yet with my life. So UNH came along made me a generous offer and I took it and went undeclared for a year and now I decided to go to law school and become a lawyer. The beginnng of this track came in my trials of FIRST as a strategist. I became a rules lawyer and circumvented many rules and proved things that could be done when engineers thought they couldn't. I credit FIRST for a lot of changes in my life all of which are positive in which without this program I don't know where I would be today.