How has your involvement in FIRST affected your career choice?

[Éowyn]

Hi guys, I didn't see a thread like this anywhere and I was wondering exactly how being involved in FIRST robotics has affected your career choice. I myself had no idea what I wanted to do after college, but after my involvement in robotics and learning just how much I love machining and learning how to design machines, I am almost definitely going to be a mechanical engineer.

[Jeremiah H]

As for me, I've always liked building things/figuring out how things work, etc., and my involvement in FIRST has really shown me a lot about such things. I plan on going into mechanical engineering, although I am not sure exactly what I want to do after college, I'll let God show me that one.
I do know that I want to stay involved in FIRST in some capacity or another, because God has really done great things for me through it, and I want to give back what I can, for
<none of these things are mine, they're all God's>
He's just letting me use them for a while, so I am expected to make the most of them, and through FIRST He's shown me what those things are. -JH

[BlondeNerd]

I wanted to be a veterinarian from the time I could pronounce veterinarian. Then, I was introduced to FIRST. Now I know I want to go into engineering, probably bioengineering or biomedical engineering - prosthetic arms and such. If you had told me three years ago that I was going to want to be an engineer, I would have laughed in your face.

[RoboMadi]

Let see............

I'm not an Electrical, Mechanical or Computer Science Engineer. I'm a System Engineer. I make sure that the system goes well and try to minimize the risks. Its like Project Management, but for Engineering Projects. Coming back to the question of how has it affected my career?.....lets see

Because of FIRST my all four years of College are paid.
Because of FIRST I'm working with Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum as a Robotics/Education Intern.
Because of FIRST I'm also working with Metropolitan Washington Airport Authorities as a System Engineering Intern.
Because of FIRST I'll be interning with Northrup Grumman Mission Systems next Summer.

I"m just a freshman in College, and FIRST has affected me in many different ways.
But i would like to point out something here. FIRST provides us with a lot of opportunities (even outside FIRST), its upon us to make sure we use them wisely and obtain the best results.

[Kims Robot]

Well I think my story has been heard, but one of the big things I like to note is that FIRST in high school gave me the opportunity to experience ALL forms of engineering. I designed parts of the robot in CAD, I machined parts, I built up the electronics systems, troubleshot problems at competition, and programmed the robot too (ugh that was back in the days of PBasic!). When I joined FIRST, I wanted to study glaciers (wouldnt it be great to ski as part of your job??) as a glaciologist.

Anyways, by the time I was a senior, I knew I wanted to go into Electrical Engineering out of all of the disciplines because it was the one that made the least sense to me. How does that work? I was curious. FIRST taught me to learn everything I could. I felt I had the most to learn, but also had the desire to learn more in the Electrical Field.

Today Im a systems engineer. The electrical degree allows me to do everything from power design to network architecture within our Radio Systems.

[Jeff Waegelin]

I'm in my senior year of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for FIRST. My experience in FIRST was what made me apply to engineering in the first place, and my role as a mechanical designer for my team led me towards the ME program.

Additionally, now that I'm applying for jobs, I've found that FIRST experience is invaluable in interviews. Whenever an interviewer asks me to "describe a situation where you were part of a group working towards a common goal" or the like, I have an answer at the ready.

[Beth Sweet]

Before I joined FIRST, I wanted to be an interior designer (or a ballerina ). My reasons for joining aside, it changed my goals. There is this wonderful man in this program named Walt Hickok who really gave me wings and handed me a camera, telling me to be creative. Because he believed in me, I was able to really explore both the camera (video) end of the Chairman's group and write articles for a newspaper (also pushed for by my now late journalism teacher Ms. O'Leary).

Walt really was my inspiration to just fly into the world of jouralism, especially broadcast. He encouraged me to follow where my heart took me, and my heart took me to broadcast journalism. Now, I am studying it at Michigan State University and will be graduating spring 2008.

[Jeremytice]

FIRST has done a lot for me. At first I wasnt sure what I wanted to do. I joined team 1126 last year and was on the electrical sub-team. Since I have been on the team I have learned a lot about all the different engineering fields out there. After last year I have decided that I would like to go to college for electrical or mechanical engineering. The FIRST program has done a ton for me. Now since Im a junior its time for college visits! Anyone have any suggestions on a good engineering school? Im thinking RIT right now.

[Éowyn]

Wow, these replies are great! Thanks guys!

And on a side note...Yay! My hundredth post!

[Ellery]

Hmm I wish I had this experience when I was in HS but my personal strengths in math and science and the urge to tweak and build things naturally put me in the Mechanical Engineering track. As you guys graduate I applaud you for taking on this path but I also hope you endure through the challenges of an engineering education.

Like Kim, I'm a Systems Engineer with a mechanical background, that's the latest trend in the work environment. Get to know everything from the hardware, software, Electrical etc. If you understand the big picture you have a better grasp of what your role is.

Go MechE's!!!

Ellery

[+()c|D]

I have a part time job right now , but I only work once or twice a week, if I wasnt in robotics, I would be working more often, but its all good. After college I want to do something pertaining to robotics after college, so it is definatly a good thing that I am in robotics.

[CRG0530]

University of Central Florida has the best Engineering Program...very well rated nationally.

[Mullen]

Going into interviews is a piece of cake. If you really needed to you could reference FIRST in almost any answer (however, don't do that.) If companies are curious about FIRST its really easy to take control of the interview and showcase your experience.
I recently had a 3 day interview with a company and I was jokingly referred to as the Robot Kid by the other candidates and a few recruiters. If you don't end up in Engineering like me (Marketing) it really allows you to stick out in their minds because not many others were involved in something like FIRST. I was interviewing for a market research/product development job and all the recruiters were extremely impressed with what I've gotten out of FIRST. Its really easy to relate what your dream job would be when you've been doing it for the past 5 years on your own.

[Jaine Perotti]

My involvement in FIRST has absolutely affected my career choice.

If I had not been a part of FIRST, I probably wouldn't have decided to major in mechanical engineering. Most likely, I would have pursued a science major (science has been a lifelong passion of mine), but FIRST introduced me to the world of engineering - a realm which I had little exposure to in elementary school.

Through FIRST, I discovered a different talent of mine - the ability to lead design teams and create mechanisms. If it weren't for the work I did on my team, I never would have discovered how much I loved doing teamwork to come up with a design solution to an engineering problem.

In my career, I am going to combine my old scientific passions with my newer engineering ones - by designing tools which help scientists do their research. For me, this will be a perfect combination of science and engineering. I am probably going to dual major in meteorology or marine science to facilitate this career direction.

FIRST was the perfect introduction to engineering for me because of it's hands-on nature. Having a taste of what it is like to do real-world design projects will hopefully serve to inspire me to work hard in college. I have always found school to be difficult because it lacks real-world applications, and I have never been good at "book work". Thanks to FIRST, however, I have a clear understanding of the rewards of earning that degree (even if the academic aspects of it are frustrating). Even after high school, FIRST is still inspiring me not to give up on myself. For me, the goal is still in sight.

-- Jaine

[MikeDubreuil]

In high school I was on team 175. I always knew I wanted to do something with software. My high school experience in FIRST made my focus embedded software. While in college my major was computer engineering technology at WIT. While there I helped out on team 125. During college I received an internship from 125's sponsor Textron Systems. After college I accepted a full time position as a software engineer there. Today I continue to help FIRST teams.