Life-Changing? I think so

Welcome back folks,

Since I'm officially starting the Scrunchie Project up again this year, I wanted to go back and remember the biggest influences for me starting and following through with this project. In fact, yesterday was the anniversary of the 2019 Troy FRC District Event, where my FRC Team, The Hammerheads, won the Engineering Inspiration and the Safety Award...but that's a story for another time :) Anyway, that event reminded me that FIRST was definitely a big influencer of this project and seeing as I'll probably be talking a lot about FRC and FIRST throughout my blog, I wanted to start off by explaining what FIRST Robotics is for those of you that are new to it.

To describe it very simply, FIRST Robotics is an amazingly well rounded program which gives students insight into the real workforce. As a freshman in high school, I was shocked to hear about a robotics club that had a business sector included - I'm sure you're just as surprised right now as I was back then. Guess I just couldn't wrap my head around why anyone would slam DECA, Engineering Club and Forensics together but... after a couple months of experience in the program, I finally understood its complexity.

FIRST's founders started the organization to help students become more well-rounded STEAM leaders, and I have to say they certainly achieved their goal. Whether you're someone interested in robot design, coding, mechanical engineering, or even marketing and video editing, there's a place within FIRST where you'll fit right in. For instance, I started off as a 9th grader in the Awards subgroup on my team (each team is structured and runs in a different way, but the experience is very similar), and I didn't have any intention of learning engineering skills. But before I knew it, I had dabbled in so many STEAM skills like computer aided design and fabrication as well as programming. Through my experiences on the team, I also learned some interpersonal and business skills, like management, public speaking and leadership.

I think that's the most amazing thing about it actually - students can come in with certain expectations of improving their strengths whether it be engineering or business related, but nearly every student leaves with an entirely new perspective of the world around them. It really made me find and grow a passion for the fields I was interested in so - to keep it short - I HIGHLY reccommend the program to you readers. For those of you who aren't high schoolers, there's other great FIRST programs like Jr. FLL and FLL for elementary schoolers and FTC for middle schoolers. Even taking on volunteering and mentoring positions can be a great experience, and the best thing is... there's no mandatory time commitment. However much you put into the program is however much you get out of it, and every second you spend will be worth it.

I know at this point you're probably asking yourself if I'm being paid to do this, or if I'm crazy. But really, I'm just extremely passionate about the program, and trust me, you will be too if you give it a try :)