WOW. I am just blown away by this article. Karthik really nails it. Share this with everyone you know. It’s a great read!!!
Competitive Robotics: Bringing Excitement Back to the Canadian Classroom
Great article Karthik!
Look at the Debby-Downer commentor on the article lol.
Maybe a troll on april 1st? It just seems way too well constructed to be serious.
In case it gets taken down:
I understand and agree with your point regarding the expansion of the teaching environment in an effort to broaden students’ perspectives on future job opportunities, but I am somewhat irked by your suggestion of using robotics as a way to shoehorn youth into jobs that are necessary for the advancement of humanity. I think it’s a bit naive and ignorant to say that the large majority of youth are simply unaware of the entertaining side of STEM programs, rather than the majority of youth simply not being interested in such programs.
It is all but a fact that most of society would rather fill the rolls within the arts, language, social sciences, studies, and so on, as such schools of thought play to the very essence of the human tune - emotions, originality, individualism, etc. Science and mathematics serve only three purposes: to stimulate the mind of the rare individuals who genuinely enjoy such practices, to advance humanity, and to earn a profit. Outside of that, it’s hard to find something to convince students into giving STEM a try.
Science and mathematics serve only three purposes: to stimulate the mind of the rare individuals who genuinely enjoy such practices, to advance humanity, and to earn a profit. Outside of that, it’s hard to find something to convince students into giving STEM a try.
Lol… What other reason does anyone get into anything?? Last I checked something like 90% of people need/take jobs for money… (aka profit). The rest want to “advance humanity”… what else is there??
Funnily enough, Karthik’s Subtle Secrets of Success presentation answers all this guys questions, or at least most of them. Can’t help the odd student apparently not interested in STE(A)M fields
Personal fulfillment (as he says). He agrees that FIRST’s primary goal isn’t to teach students that STEM pays, but to make it inspiring. The commenter’s (and FIRST’s) “rather” statement is of desire for fulfillment, not need for a paying job. I disagree with the ratios in his premise, but his logic is valid.
I personally find the time I spend developing FIRST teams and FIRST as a whole the most fulfilling thing I have ever done in my life.
Agreed. (Though reading about it on HuffPo is up there. Great job once again, Karthik!)
This is a great article. Well done, Karthik!
A HuffPo article AND a TEDx talk in the last two months? We’re lucky to have such a rockstar in our ranks. Congratulations.
Advance humanity? Preposterous! 
Right on Karthik
I had the privileged of doing a TED talk as well. It was a blast!
I did not express it as elegantly as you, but I think I described some of what you were talking about.
Thanks everyone! I was very humbled when the Huffington Post approached me to write this article. It’s a very important topic to all of us, and it’s great to get some extra media exposure. Feel free to share the article with your friends, and to add your thoughts in the comment section on the Huffington Post site. If we really want to create the educational reforms and culture changes that we all believe in, we need to work together to share the stories of impact that competitive robotics has had on all of us.
This could be the new tag line for STEM.
“Other than enjoying it, making money, and advancing humanity, what is it good for?!”
Very cool article.