How has your involvement in FIRST affected your career choice?

[George A.]

Like most people who've responded to this thread, my career goals have changed greatly upon being involved with FIRST. However, unlike most people I didn't want to be an engineer before being involved in FIRST, and likewise I still don't. Not that I have anything against engineers, I just lack the pertinent skills needed to be an engineer.

Before FIRST I wanted to be a foreign language teacher. However during the spring semester of my freshman year in college my life was changed. I volunteered for my first FIRST regional (the 2005 New Jersey Regional) and I signed up to be a play-by-play announcer. I didn't think I had a shot to announce since I was the third backup. However, as luck would have it the first two people weren't able to attend the regional. So there I was 18, just out of High School and needed to entertain the crowd at a FIRST regional. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck, but apparently I did well. At the end of the regional Randy Schaeffer came up to me and asked if I wanted to help out with New York City. Since then I've been asked to announce at 3 different regionals and the World Championships. Some people from the crowd even asked where I got my training, and were shocked when they found out that I never announced before.

So anyway, thanks to FIRST I changed majors and am now a mere 2 years from getting my broadcasting license, and hopefully will be working for a radio station shortly after.

I owe a lot to FIRST, and like Sara I will be involved in FIRST for as long as I can, so I can give future kids the opportunities that I received.

[TravisE]

Robotics has affected me greatly before robotics I had no idea of what I wanted to do. Now I know exactaly what I want to do and what that is is Aerospace Engineering. Because I find space travel amazing and flight to be amazing. Even though I have never flown in a plane and I'm afraid of heights. I would still love to fly planes and to go up into the space station and look upon the world that is my dream and I will try to do it if I can and lastly if NASA ever decides to go back to the moon I want to be on that flight to the moon.

[Éowyn]

Originally Posted by TravisE

Robotics has affected me greatly before robotics I had no idea of what I wanted to do. Now I know exactaly what I want to do and what that is is Aerospace Engineering. Because I find space travel amazing and flight to be amazing. Even though I have never flown in a plane and I'm afraid of heights. I would still love to fly planes and to go up into the space station and look upon the world that is my dream and I will try to do it if I can and lastly if NASA ever decides to go back to the moon I want to be on that flight to the moon.

Hey! That spot on the flight to the moon is already booked.

By me.

[rachal]

FIRST has actually made it harder for me to decide what kind of career path I'm going to pursue (although i'm only 16, so it doesn't particularly matter yet). Before robotics, I was only into CS and math. When I joined, I decided to do mechanical on a whim, and now I can see myself studying any one of ME, EE, CS, math, informatics, management, or physics. That's a lot to decide from, but I'm glad FIRST has opened me up to considering more fields of interest.

[Nick Seidl]

The affect of FIRST on my career I think is particularly unique. While many will tell you that FIRST was their reason for going into a particular field of engineering, or college engineering program, I went a very different route. Like most of you, I had an idea of what I wanted to be before I got involved (storm chaser), which ultimately changed to mechanical or manufacturing engineering.

After a year of engineering at Purdue, I found that engineering just wasn't for me. While I was surviving academically, there was more theory than practice than I expected, and I realized that most engineers only spend the first few years of their careers doing real design work. I began to consider other career options.

Now at this point, I had spent a year as a mentor with 461. As enjoyable as FIRST was as a student, I found being a mentor to be all the more rewarding. Ultimately, I chose a career in Technology Education. After moving to the new Purdue team, 1646, in 2005, I have spent as many years mentoring as I did participating as a student. I am looking for the first job of my career, of which paticipating as a teacher mentor will surely be a part.