FIRST Ladies - Blog

FIRST Ladies Panel at GPR

4/15/2022

On Thursday, March 17, we held our (mostly) annual women in STEM panel at the Greater Pittsburgh Regional (GPR)! After GPR was canceled last year due to COVID, we were very excited to be able to hold an in-person event once again!

Over 50 people attended this event, and our panelists consisted of mentors and students from teams 117 Steel Dragons (Audrey Olmstead and Ursula Brown), 3504 Girls of Steel (Amanda Hulver and Sarah Withee), 4085 Technical Difficulties (Madison Gysan and Nadine Phillips), and 7460 Avi and Friends (Sydney Gillen). The panel was moderated by FIRST Ladies Director Samhita Gudapati. We talked about topics including our experiences as women in STEM, balancing school and robotics, productivity, and time management. It was really interesting to hear so many different perspectives, and we had a very productive discussion with audience participation as well!

It was so nice to be able to meet with so many ladies in FIRST and allies, and we learned a lot from each other. We can’t wait to hold the panel again next year!

This blog was written by Amanda H. of FRC team 3504, Girls of Steel. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

How to make the best of your FIRST experience?

3/13/2022

Back in 2017, during my first ever FLL team meeting, my mentor said to me, “The more you give to it (FIRST), the more you’ll get out of it”. I didn’t truly understand the meaning of this till today when I was reflecting on my FIRST experience. It wasn’t long ago – just 5 years earlier – when I was that reluctant and timid girl who hid backstage at the FLL regionals. That girl certainly had never envisioned spending five years enthusiastically through FLL, FTC and FRC.

I believe that my journey epitomises the journey of every FIRST participant - a magical journey of the transformation that happens when one discovers the passion called FIRST!

The most important lesson I learnt was in my first year of FRC. We had spent an entire year preparing – the robot was ready to go, our journals all printed, and our essays ready to be submitted. And then the pandemic struck like a bolt from the blue and the competition was cancelled. Although disheartened, I didn’t regret a thing. It was all still worth it! Every second of it! FIRST is not just a competition, it’s a learning experience. It’s the journey that matters.

My advice – make the most of this journey. Immerse yourself in the FIRST experience. Try your hand at construction. Involve yourself in coding. And don’t forget outreach! I often see students overlooking outreach, but I promise you it is so fulfilling that your FIRST experience would not be complete without it.

Enjoy yourself. While the work in FRC can sometimes be overwhelming and intimidating (building an industrial grade robot as a high school student surely is a daunting task!), you should foster an environment that is positive and stress free. Let your passion be the driving force. Take initiatives, volunteer to lead projects, and don’t be afraid to fail. Treat challenges as opportunities to learn.

See your teammates as your friends. I have forged some of the strongest bonds with my FIRST friends. If at any point you think you need support, find it within this FIRST community. Strive to create a friendly and approachable working environment knitted with efficient and effective communication.

The last bit from my side – start early and stay consistent. Continued participation in FIRST year after year will give you the maximum rewards – you will see yourself grow through the experience, both as a STEM student and as a person.

Trust me, FIRST is an experience like no other. Just give it your best and enjoy the journey!

This blog was written by Aarna S. of FRC team 7539, Elev8. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

WITH GREAT POWER, COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY

1/25/2022

The mission of FIRST® is to “inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, 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.” In every single weighted phrase of that mission is an underscoring of the many ways, we as FIRST® Ladies can lead the change. And not just can, we SHOULD.

One of the core goals of our Outreach program is to inspire young people – ALL young people - to be leaders in science and technology. And yet, we need to just look around at our programs and see the way the data for girls in STEM skews against the trends. At Elev8, we have had a very strong culture of diversity, inclusiveness and #SheEmpowersSTEM has been an area of strong focus and passion for us. But it doesn’t change the realities created by years of gender stereotyping, encouragement, access and even toys, rewards and praise. By middle school, these nuanced behaviors have not only affected interests, but even performance. A study in Columbia showed that “Preschool girls outperform boys in math skills by 0.17 standard deviations, yet both boys and girls associate STEM with boys.” This parity in performance erodes as conditioning and opportunity plays out and “Girls were represented similarly to boys among top math performers in grade 6 in only 12 of 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.” These studies tell the same story around the world.

The reasons we need to force the issue are many. We need to encourage girls to be whatever they want to be, and not what the world teaches them girls should be. In the case of STEM particularly, we also need to encourage innovators, entrepreneurs to create a greater parity in education and wealth. If things continue at this pace, UNICEF believes it will take 99.5 years to achieve gender parity. We are also leaving half the population out of the conversation for the future. In owning it, in creating it, in designing it.

We need to encourage the interest in STEM at different ages for girls. All the way from awareness exercises for primary school girls to introductory workshops in middle school, we need to talk to girls everywhere on how technology and science can fit in with their greatest passions. We need to highlight women who led the way and can be great mentors for girls to look up to and incentivize the budding interest where we see it with competitions, mentorship and inclusivity.

At Elev8, we are using all these tools and are constantly trying to perpetuate the conversation for Girls in STEM.

INCLUDE: Try and recruit more girls every year in our team. At Elev8, we have also started all girls teams in FTC® .
ENCOURAGE: We conduct a series of workshops and Robotics Camps specifically focussed on getting more girls to Try Out Tech. For the past two years, we have conducted beginner workshops for girls with Google to show girls that #EveryoneCanCode. We even run a programming course for the women of the Indian Institute of Management,
MENTOR: We have also been focussed on showing girls the awesome women in tech are breaking the class ceiling and the stereotypes. We have done this with women leaders in Tech conferences and also by getting women programmers from Google to teach and mentor girls from all over how to code and share their journeys. This role of mentorship rests on our shoulders as well as FIRST Ladies, we need to share our stories, our opportunities and our time with young girls so they have an idea of paths they can take.
REDEFINE: A study showed that When asked to draw a scientist, 70 percent of 6-year-old girls draw a woman, while only 25 percent of 16-year-old girls do. Kirthiga Reddy, who was heading Facebook in India and then the first women partner in SoftBank told us that as women it is imperative that we “Amplify Others”. In workshops, conferences, social media posts and competitions, amplify the work and achievements of all the girls around you so more girls believe they can do it too.

Lastly, as FIRST® Ladies, we are privileged with an environment of culture, conditioning and encouragement to be part of the great technological revolution – today and for our collective future. As like all good superheroes, we need to acknowledge the unwritten rule – With great power, comes great responsibility. The FIRST® Ladies should own this responsibility and lead the charge to a more equal world.
https://www.unicef.org/media/84046/file/Reimagining-girls-education-through-stem-2020.pdf

https://team7539.com/she-empowers-stem/

https://www.edutopia.org/article/50-years-children-drawing-scientists

This blog was written by Kyra R. of FRC team 7539, Elev8. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

Not a Dream

11/4/2021

It was a beautiful afternoon in Florida on a pristine summer's day. The temperature, 85 degrees, and the beach never felt so calming. I felt the breeze brush my face and the sand between my toes. In the distance, I saw a pod of dolphins jumping and all I could think to myself was this must be a dream.

It was.

  What I actually woke up to was an early 6 o’clock scream from the alarm that many know all too well. It was a crisp fall morning in New England and rather than sit on the beach, I started to prepare myself for the long day ahead. No, not a football game, or lacrosse, or even rugby; it was the first offseason robotics competition of the year. Three years of persistence and determination, while throwing myself at any project I could work on, led me to finally obtain the position of driver, a position I sought to be in since the beginning of my robotics experience.

So, after preparing and then heading out on the hour and a half drive, I arrived at a Massachusetts high school gymnasium fueled on iced coffee and the anticipation about the day to come. I walked in among the forty or so other teams also there to compete and could not help but feel unprepared. I had fairly little practice as the driver in a real competition and all of my fellow students who learned about the robot with me had left the previous summer for college.

  Regardless of my inexperience, the start of the competition was inevitable. I took my place behind the white line and prepared myself with a combination of excitement and dread. The fifteen second timer seemed to last forever as I waited for the robot to complete its autonomous tasks.

Finally, the buzzer sounded. I grabbed the controls and suddenly felt nothing but confidence in my ability and my team. During the regular season, we performed excellently due to both our remarkable robot design and our skillful previous drive team. I knew we would achieve success. We had to. I realized then that my teammates depended on me just as much as I depended on them to design, build, and program a strong robot.

  After our first victory, we proceeded to win the rest of the following matches and ended with a 12-0 win record and a first-place trophy. I looked at my celebrating teammates and though I felt the exact same joy they did, I kept my composure thinking that any slight turn of events could have easily caused us a loss; I wanted to appear humble and gracious. However, I was not unappreciative. Though relieved, celebrating also seemed premature as we had more competitions ahead.

Robotics has always reminded me of my younger days and my favorite toys, LEGOs. The configurable building blocks fascinated me, and through them, I developed my creative and innovative mind. When my parents gave the seven-year-old me my first set of LEGOs, I built the set to its designated completion that very day (of course). But then, in the following days, after admiring my work, I dismantled it, then innovated and created an original design. This was my pastime during my childhood. Design, build, innovate, repeat.

I had no idea then, that I discovered the engineering design process at seven, but even now, and with no shame, I occasionally unearth my old LEGOs and create a new concept.

Today, I can only imagine what my childhood self would say if he only knew what kind of projects I was working on now. If he only knew how I design, create, and innovate almost everyday and how all of those years of exercising my creativity finally paid off. The only thing that I think he could say is this must be a dream.

But this time, it wasn’t.

This blog was written by a member of FRC team 78. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

Naming inspiration

11/4/2021

One way we showcase our identity as a girls team is through the names of our robots. Where do we get our robot names? We like to stick with a theme. Usually it coincides with the theme for the season, but most importantly we name our robots after women both in real life and in film who inspire us. We’ve done it for multiple seasons now with names such as Violet, Sally Ride, L3-37, and Eowyn. Here is our reasoning for each name.

Violet
Violet was our 2016-2017 season robot. She was named after Violet from the Incredibles. It was a fitting name because our team wears super hero capes and our color is purple, but most importantly, Violet is an amazing character. She is strong and confident and those traits are something that our team embodies.

Sally Ride
Sally Ride was our 2018-2019 season robot. She was named after Sally Ride, the first American female to go to space. She paved the way for women in STEM and is an inspiration to us all. She was also an astronaut and that fell right into the theme of space in Rover Ruckus.

L3-37
L3-37 was our 2019-2020 season robot. She was named after a female droid activist from Star Wars, which fits right into the theme of the season. We picked her because she is persistent in her beliefs and stands up for what she believes is right. We strive to carry ourselves the way she does and continue to advocate for what we believe in.

Eowyn
Eowyn was our 2020-2021 season robot. She is named after Eowyn, a human in Lord of the Rings. We knew we wanted a Lord of the Rings character as our inspiration because of the ring element in the game, and Eowyn stood out to us the most. She is a self-appointed shieldmaiden, and she is famously quoted for saying “I am no man.” Eowyn is fierce and doesn’t back down, even when told she can’t do something because of her gender. Her fighting spirit is something our team hopes to embody.

Each year our team has gone out of our way to ensure that our robot is named after someone who inspires us and reminds us of how we want to carry ourselves in the FTC season.

This blog was written by a member of FTC team 3526. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

GoSHacks Jr.

9/5/2021

From August 13-14, 2021, Girls of Steel successfully launched GosHacks Jr.– our first-ever hackathon– reaching 39 registered participants, receiving 20+ official project submissions, hosting 7 student-led workshops and panels with 5 Girls of Steel members as mentors, and distributing $400+ in awards and prizes donated by GitHub and Girls of Steel. Participants were divided into three divisions: Division I (K-2), Division II (3-5), and Division III (6-8). A Grand Winner, First Runner-Up, and Second Runner-Up were selected from each division; additionally, the mentors selected a recipient of the Mentor’s Choice Award.

Girls of Steel Hacks Jr. (GoSHacks Jr.) is a specialized virtual hackathon for students in grades K-8; GoSHacks Jr. aims to extend the opportunity for younger students in elementary and middle school to participate in hackathons, which are conventionally limited to older students. At GoSHacks Jr., a specific theme or challenge was presented, to which participants were given six hours to innovate, design, and submit a solution consisting of a written proposal, a recorded pitch, and a student photo. This year’s theme was “Save the Animals!”, where students were tasked with brainstorming and creating a project in Scratch that teaches people about an endangered species. Watch the highlight reel of our hackers hard at work below!

Throughout the hackathon, various student-led workshops and informational seminars were held to ensure that all students are equipped with fundamental programming, leadership, and problem-solving skills. Our mentors led events including an “Introduction to Scratch” Workshop, a “What is FIRST” Informational Session, a “Girls in STEM” Q&A Panel, and a Keynote Speaker, Ms. Sarah Withee, Girls of Steel mentor and Software Engineering Consultant at 18F

We were so excited to see our students’ enthusiasm for innovation and creativity!
“I am having a good time with this project. I’ve never used Scratch before, so I needed help from my dad and sister. Now I am going to do this every day, it is so fun!” wrote one student.
“This was a really amazing experience for me,” reflected a Girls of Steel mentor, “It’s so rewarding seeing the students’ dedication and pride in their own work.”
A HUGE congratulations to our awardees, listed below, and all our amazing participants!
DIVISION I:
Grand Winner – Justice P., grade 1
First Runner-Up – Dimitri J., grade K
Second Runner-Up – Elleanora P., grade 2
DIVISION II:
Grand Winner – Alice T., grade 4
First Runner-Up – Jason Z., grade 5
Second Runner-Up – Evalina P., grade 5
DIVISION III:
Grand Winner – Özge U., grade 7
First Runner-Up – Meera K., grade 7
Second Runner-Up – Ava M., grade 8
MENTOR’S CHOICE AWARD: Rosalie P., grade 5
Check out the awards ceremony slides and view video submissions of the awardees here.
Contact us at girlsofsteelrobotics@gmail.com if you have any questions about us or about the hackathon.

This blog was written by a member of FRC team 3504. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

A FIRST Story

8/17/2021

I'm sitting there in the stands watching as the match starts. It's the 2019 Forest Hills tournament in Michigan. As the sandstorm begins our robot moves to place a hatch panel but not this round, it sits there idle. I watch thinking maybe nothing’s wrong, maybe, but as the sandstorm period ends it's still sitting there. The controls system advisors come over to help troubleshoot and figure out what is wrong with the robot. The light is on, it has power, so what is wrong with it? Computer issue? Driver Station malfunction? As the match nears the end there are still no answers and it still has not moved. I sat on the edge of my seat ready to sprint down the bleachers as soon as the match ended to help in any way I could.
My name is Bridget, and I am a member of That ONE Team, Our Next Engineers. This is my 3rd year in FIRSTⓇ. As I sat trying to write about how FIRST had impacted me, I was not feeling it and with the deadline fast approaching and gone, to get it turned in I settled on my story, my FIRST story, which in a way could be an impact story.

As I look back, FIRST was everywhere and I never noticed. When my family went to Washington DC for a conference there was a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team there that let us drive their robots and raffled off LEGOⓇ Mindstorms robots (one of which I won and still have). The summer after 6th grade I went to a STEPS camp for girls, where we built model planes and there was a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team there showing off one of their robots and letting us drive it and shoot a ball. When I was in 8th grade I joined a robotics class where we learned how to build and program LEGO Mindstorms. During this class That ONE Team came and showed the 2018 robot that played on the Einstein field at Championships. But all I cared about was the robot and how badly I wanted to know if the green compliant wheels were squishy or hard. So I grabbed a business card and off I went.
In September of my freshman year of high school I had completely forgotten about the team I so wanted to join until my dad had asked if I wanted to join Odyssey of the Mind that year, and remembered about the business card and contacted the team. From there I attended meetings and found out that the green wheels on the robot were in fact squishy. My freshman year I was on the fabrication team and soaked up as much information that I possibly could about how the robot worked, how to fix it, and how to build it. That year I learned many important lessons and skills that I still use today.
The second year, I took up the lead role on the fabrication sub team. Even though as a leadership team we didn't set anyone to be in charge of a set subteam, we all assigned ourselves to the group we were on and took charge. I helped build the timeline and give everyone tasks. That year (2020) we had a lot of new students and fell behind in our time line. We got the robot done mostly on time and had a competition in Canada before COVID-19 shut down the world.
This year (2021) I learned alot about the timeline, how important deadlines are plus how fast they pass, how to run a standup meeting, and how to keep everyone engaged, attach the radio to the robot with something more than the dual lock, and that Zoom sucks. This was my third year and my team was fortunate enough to be able to meet in person without a COVID outbreak within the team. I took on the new responsibility of co-captain, with the other being one of my best friends, Anna. Together we continue perfecting the art of standup meetings and adapting them to meet the needs of the team. I also continued to help lead the fabrication team. This season we still had issues trying to meet deadlines, but got the robot done with its fair share of issues and with barely enough time to get the videos submitted for the Infinite Recharge at Home judged awards. Though we did not get to go to a tournament this year, it was still one full of learning.
As I am looking into my 4th and final season on the team as a student, I am looking forward to an off season competition that we are attending and the hope of in-person tournaments and attending worlds.

This blog was written by Bridget L. from FRC team 4967. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

A Year of FIRSTs: The Impact of FIRST Girls in 2020-21

8/17/2021

This past year or so has been a year of many firsts, although not in the way most of us would have wanted. Schools were closed. Vacations were cancelled. To avoid was to care. However, despite the cancelled plans and the isolation, this year was also a year for FIRSTⓇ, a year in which teams from all around the world found creative ways to make an impact. As competition season closes, let’s take a look back at all the wonderful things FIRST – and the wonderful girls who are part of it – have accomplished, and celebrate what the diverse and resilient teams have done to help close the gender gap in STEM fields.
   First of all, let’s take a look at the impact FIRST has had on girls. According to the FIRST Impact study for 2020, 46 percent of the participants were girls. This is amazing, especially considering that, according to the US census, only 27 percent of workers in STEM careers are female. While it’s true that not all the students in FIRST robotics will move on to partake in these areas, it does show that participation offers a welcoming and equitable community for both genders.
   Next, let’s look at the impact these girls have gone on to make. Through FIRST, many of these girls are getting the opportunity to make a splash in big ways. Dolphin Droids, an all-girl FIRST Tech Challenge Team (FTC), made the news some weeks ago for winning third place in the Connect award. The Missfits, a girls’ FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team, caught the attention of a journalist, and a documentary was made on their 2019-2020 season. The Afghan Girls Robotics Team, another all-girls FIRST Team, took the pandemic as an opportunity to save lives, designing a low-cost ventilator. This team faced many hurdles on its path to success to boot: They were not even allowed to compete in the U.S. initially, and had to fight for the right to participate. Now if that’s not girl power, I don’t know what is!
   That ONE Team 4967, the FIRST Team I am part of, has always recognized the importance of girls in FIRST. In fact, we wouldn’t exist without one! Founded by Tami Hartley, or, as we all like to call her, Mrs. Coach, That ONE Team is currently led by two female student co-captains, and it has been one of the best resume-building experiences of my life. It was through FRC that I first met another girl who shared my interest in aerospace engineering, and it was through my time participating that I got hands-on experience in embedded controls programming and leadership within STEM fields. Although I have only participated during 2020 and 2021, my team, like countless other FIRST teams around the world, did not let the pandemic stop them from achieving their objectives, and kept busy when last year’s competition was cancelled by making PPE for essential workers.
    What does all this demonstrate? FIRST has the potential to make a serious difference when it comes to women in STEM fields. The statistics clearly show that, afforded the opportunity, resources, and information, girls are just as willing and capable as boys at participating in engineering and other STEM matters. And yet, despite this, if we look at the field of aviation alone, women constitute only 18 percent of aerospace engineers, and a mere 5 percent of pilots. This is not from a lack of skill, either; women are equally well-performing in these fields. The issue, or at least from what I’ve seen as an informal math tutor at my school, is a combination of confidence and exposure. By providing girls with a safe, open environment to test the waters of engineering, FIRST Robotics could be a real force for change within the workforce, helping girls realize their dreams one robot at a time.

Sources:
2020 Impact Study
Career Demographics
Dolphin Droids
Afghan Dreamers
Missfits’ Documentary

This blog was written by Raven N. from FRC team 4967. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

Why Lady Cans wear pink

8/17/2021

FRC 2881 The Lady Cans, a team from Austin, Texas, wear hats, and each member begins their hat with duct tape, scissors, and a hat of their choice. The first stripe of duct tape is always Safety Pink, which repeats after our green, blue, orange, and purple stripes (“PGBOP”)--similar to the pink polyester of our team shirts or the pink LEDs on our robots, but neither color exactly. We aren’t just one type of pink, though Safety Pink is the correct pink.
If you pass our pit during competition or visit our build space, we’ve got pink bow ties, batteries, and tool drawers. Our pink isn’t for girls, it’s for girl engineers and builders. The sexist, pink packaging, which our female stereotype is “supposed” to use, was pink because pink was for girls and everything else wasn’t. So we made our hats, tools, and robots pink, and therefore robotics was for girls, too.
In the early days of our team, we wore many shirt colors from blue to orange, but we were never able to stand out from the crowd. In 2014 we chose Safety Pink and we not only had a visual impact, but we also glowed. We begrudged pink before we loved it, disinclined to wear a color that didn’t want us building, programming, or getting our hands dirty. Pink was for girls, and we weren’t trying to make ourselves different from anyone else. Pink was the sexism of one girl engineer among teams of boys, but sexist pink wasn’t the only pink. 2014, we wore loud pink, feminist pink, neon pink, STEM pink, and Lady Can pink, reinventing the middle and high school girl into a girl who could be on a robotics team without rejecting their femininity and other female peers.
We were pink for good. Now, when new things are pink-less, we get another roll of duct tape and make the patriarchy a little pinker.

This blog was written by a member of FRC team 2881. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!

Girls who Code Outreach

7/14/2021

Our girls (FTC Team 7444 - Sisters of the Motherboard from Winston Salem North Carolina, USA) had the opportunity to partner with the Carver School Road Public Library to work with local schools in the Girls Who Code program. We held this program once a month at the Carver School Road Library starting in October of 2019 and ending in March of 2020 due to the pandemic. We plan to run this program again in the future.

On Day one, young girls were able to learn how to code through operating mini robots, doing mazes, and even had fun bowling with Spheros! The group of 6 girls in attendance got to learn the inside of a robot by looking at parts of a computer and 3D printer on Day 2. They also learned a bit about binary code, as it was a very interesting topic to them. Over the course of the program, they even got to create their own programs! The Girls Who Code program has been a very worthwhile experience for our team, and we would gladly do it again. We encourage other teams to look into the program and contact local libraries or elementary schools to try and connect younger girls to STEM.

This blog was written by a member of FTC team 7444. If you are interested in blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule!