Saturday, April 2. 2016
My friend, Minnie, and her 5 year old daughter, Olivia, attended their first FRC Competition on Friday. Olivia was absolutely captivated by the robot action. She loved loved loved the matches and the game. When we went down to the pit to collect some buttons, Congresswoman Louise Slaughter was also visiting the pits. The Congresswoman talked to us about the work she has done to make the national grant process more fair for female scientists! She encouraged Olivia to love science and to work hard. Minnie and I were both so happy to meet and have a candid conversation with our amazing Congresswoman!
I also introduced Olivia to our alumna Shauna who has spent the last year working at NASA. Shauna really connected with Olivia – discovering their mutual love of LEGOs! A week later, Olivia is still talking about how cool it is that she met someone who worked on a robot that is in space (referring to Shauna’s work on the Robonaut 2 which is currently on the International Space Station).
I really wanted to share this story of how inspired one girl has become from her trip to the competition last Friday. Minnie and her husband, Damion, are also starting a Jr. FLL team at Olivia’s elementary school – so I am sure we will see lots more of Olivia in the future.
Mentor Carol
