When I was in high school, I was on a FIRST Robotics Competition team. For people who aren’t familiar with FIRST, it stands “For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.” Its main purpose is to introduce the youth to engineering along with a variety of other skills.
Before I was on my FIRST team, I didn’t really know what I wanted to study. I considered going down a pre-law path, but this seemed like it would be unfitting since I was always into math and science while growing up. However, I didn’t really know what engineering was all about, which is why I never legitimately considered it as a career for myself.
Then, I joined my FIRST team, and I learned that I vastly underestimated engineering. Engineering isn’t just a bunch of nerdy people sitting at desks and doing calculations (even though that is pretty prominent in the field). Instead, I learned that engineering is just a different way of thinking. It forces people to think about invention versus innovation and how to turn an idea into reality.
When I was on a robotics team, I learned that there are different phases in the engineering process. First, there’s a problem. Are you creating something new or are you making something better? Then, there’s the design process, which involves the look and calculations of the solution to your problem. Next, there’s the build phase, which is when you construct the design that you made. Then, there’s the test phase, which is when you find out if you properly executed your design phase. (If you didn’t properly execute your design phase, then you’ll have to go back to the design phase... This is kind of disappointing, but it’s a good learning experience.) Finally, you’ll hopefully have a completed solution that will actually be applied to solve the problem.
In the FIRST Robotics Competition, the engineering process was very similar. You were given a yearly challenge, you designed a solution to this challenge (hopefully a winning one), you built your robot in six weeks, then you competed at competitions. It gave students a reason to engineer along with hands on experience while trying to meet a deadline.
However, there was more to robotics than the actual building of the robot. There was a business sub-team, which acquired sponsors in order to fund our robot and travel. It gave young adults a way to learn about the value of money for a business and how to understand expenses.
Another perk to being on a robotics team was that students learned how to communicate in group settings and how to collaborate on design ideas. There were even student leadership roles where sub-team leaders could make the final decisions on designs after listening to all of the ideas, which allowed them to take on a new type of responsibility.
In addition, the various awards offered in FIRST gave students the opportunity to work on their writing and presentation skills. Many people believe that engineering doesn’t require people to write, but it’s actually a vital component to the field if you want people to properly understand and execute your designs.
Overall, being on a FIRST team really helped me develop my career aspirations and my professional skills. I firmly believe that any student could benefit from being on a robotics team whether or not they want to partake in the actual building of the robot. If every high school offered this opportunity to its students, then the next working generations would have an extremely well-rounded skill set. Who knows… maybe a few kids would be inspired to pursue engineering even if they hadn’t considered it before.
