Found this great article about FIRST. Really shows what Dean Kamen’s creation does for us.
Really great article. Basically summarizes everything I have to say about FIRST.
I forwarded it on to my wife; it made her bawl several times. In a good way.
Her comment: “FIRST is about so much, I see these stories about kids finding homes through FIRST, these huge life-changing things; it makes me mad that people are so crazed about the whole Einstein thing.”
At first, I agreed with her. Upon reflecting, I realized that it is because of the Einstein uproar that FIRST, and FRC in particular, is so compelling. While our small team measures its successes in university placements, scholarships, and collaborations, others measure success in blue banners. Which is a worthy, and certainly Inspirational, goal.
This next part is a potential land mine - I’ll try to word it as truthfully as I can.
Our team, and many teams around us, have no concept of being champions. Our high mark came in 2009 when we were selected as the second pick of the seventh alliance, and were dismissed in two matches. From our view, it would be a career moment to simply attend CMP as an earned participant, and we would be grateful for the experience - good, bad, or indifferent.
However, the powerhouse teams, the ones that sniff Einstein with regularity, this would only be a start. To strive for excellence, and continued excellence, is among their main goals, and these teams provide us peanuts with, well, not a target, but a goal. It is certainly within their rights as top perfomers and top Inspirers to expect excellence, and be distraught if it is missed at any level.
What a fantastic article. This man truly gets it.
Taylor,
That is one of the great things about FIRST; There are many ways to be successful in FIRST and that is determined by how your team defines success.
Way to go Emily!