ROULT Supergirls

Hello FIRST world! I’m Liz from ROULT 4403 team. This is my third year in the team, and the second as a mentor. I consider the time I’ve been part of FRC community can be kind of short, however I’ve seen the team growing in incredible ways: construction, programming, outreach, finances but the most important aspect (and the one I want to share with you this weekend) is that I have seen how girls grow with FIRST. Besides I know, you, girl reader, have possibly experimented similar changes or motivations participating in FIRST, this may not be new, but it is always some satisfaction on find out we are not the only ones who lived that awesome life change. 

I chose 3 girls from different team areas to explain with real life histories how being part of ROULT team changed their path.  

Maripili Ortueta 
Since I joined ROULT being a woman has been a challenge, in my first year there were only 5 women on the whole team. Most would think that this is horrible, but it actually was not. Being in a team which is most men has made me a stronger. Being a woman in this team has actually made me feel in power. I love being in charge, sharing opinions with my teammates and actually being a part of the programming field has made me feel like i can do anything, like I can just handle any challenge that comes to me. I am not afraid of boys. Now that I have the opportunity to share my feelings in this blog, I’d like to say that I really invite any girl to join a team. It does not matter if it is made mostly out of boys, it will make you feel like you went out of every expectation because YOU can be the one in charge, and you can change your own life. Because FIRST changes your life, no matter the gender. 

​Enya Torrero
Since this is my first year in robotics. I realized that I had the ability to learn new skills and enjoy at the same time. I discovered that being part of a team is important in my life although it requires patience, responsibility, perseverance, communication, and organization.

The synergy with the different team areas was a great experience. I am happy that people can recognize that girls can be able to participate in robotics. I felt that this was challenging at first but later you get used to it. Another thing that made me feel lucky is meeting new people. Next year I want to persuade girls to get informed about robotics. I have never felt another treatment just for the fact that I am a girl. When I was learning new things I always watched, listened and repeated. When I learned those things and still did not understand I googled or asked my dad. Even though this experience was a little exhausting I learned to manage it.

Now I think more of the importance of science, technology and math. We need to stop the stereotype and encourage more girls. And that’s something that only us can do. 

​Alessia Mandato
Being a girl in team Roult #4403 has thought me many things. One of them is that even if men and women don’t have the same physical capacities, we are as able to bore wood and make the obstacles, or put screws and nuts to assemble a chassis.

On my team, I’m part of the mechanical section, I helped during the building season doing prototypes, working in team, building the robot, and correcting errors. It is my first year participating on a robotics competition, and this experience in FRC is being amazing. 

Our society has thought us that girls “can’t do the same work as men”. Being part of the mechanical section in my team had made me learn that it is a lie, we can work as much as men and with the same abilities, even when men unconsciously sometimes don’t let us the same things as them. I think that specially this year, guys in our team have learned to accept that we have equal capabilities, and let us learn from them. 

The increment of girls in our team is notorious comparing it to the quantity of girls in the team last year. In 2016 building season we had around 2.5 times the girls we had last year.

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Hello FIRST world! Girls!  Yeah, it’s me again (Liz), are my girls awesome? What you just read it’s a huge prove of the transformation that being part of a team can trigger in girls. It is a proof of respect, fellowship, friendship and other tons of values that keep growing between each team member of the team every day. 

If you read the entire article, I would like you to comment your experience… how did you feel at the beginning? Was robotics what you expected? How many girls are in your team? Are they cool? Do you actually think like Alessia, Maripili or Enya? 

This blog post was written by Lizeth Espinoza, Alessia Mandato, Maripili Ortueta, Enya Torrero of FRC team 4403. If you are interested in blogging for blogging for FIRST Ladies, click here to sign up on the schedule.

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