The FIRST organization's vision, articulated by it's founder, Dean Kamen, is "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."
Mission
FIRST's mission is equally exciting! "Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership."
FIRST and the Girls of SteelBecause FIRST is so inspirational in a myriad of ways, every team experiences something different from the organization. For us, the Girls of Steel, FIRST has provided a life changing opportunity to experience the process of thinking and competing in an entirely different way. As girls aspiring to become engineers, the chance to be put into a male-dominated field, receiving the same Kit of Parts, the same rules, the same field, and the same opponents, as our other teams is the chance of a lifetime. Each and every girl on the team, each and every parents, each and every mentor has been able to share this journey and learn from each other. We intend to build a robot to win medals, but, in the process, we have obtained a prize of so much more than gold - the experience of "gracious professionalism."
