Working at the FIRST® European Premiership Event

Bridging technology, culture, and education together.

On stage with the amazing STEAMup team.

Over the past few months, I have been working with the Dutch company STEAMup in helping with the coordination of the hosting the FIRST® Tec Challenge for the very first time in Europe. Whilst I was familiar with the work of FIRST® from my husband who is an alumus, and also attended a few events in the UK, this was an entirely new area for me.

In the lead up to the competition, there was a lot of behind the scenes organisation which is where I was mostly working. I have no background in technology, however, this was not an issue as there is so much more to FIRST® than just robots. Interpersonal, communication, and organisational skills were also vital when being part of the planning for such a large-scale event. After months and months of hard work, it all came down to the final week of actually hosting the event.

Teams from 25 countries all joined together to showcase their robots and to work with gracious professionalism to be the winning team. However, it isn’t just about winning robot matches, it’s also about winning awards from the judges based on not only your robot but also what you do within your community. As I walked around the teams in their personally decorated booths and saw how each team was using their skills for such good and watching all these teenagers of different nationalities happily interact with each other truly gave me so much hope for this generation - the future is going to be okay. How much better the world would be if we all shared the vision of FIRST®? This is everything that education should be and this is everything that technology should be.

Community work of one of the teams

It was such an honour to be a part of this event. To have been working for the months prior to be just a small piece in the enormous vision and to see it come together as beautifully and successfully as it did was amazing.

These events exist because of selfless people who work non-stop and for no glory to offer a unique and unforgettable experience to our new STEM generation. People who are brave enough to say "we can do that" and make it happen. The majority of the workers for the event are volunteers, some of whom took holiday leave from their own jobs to be a part of this. For so many of these students, it was their first time in the Netherlands, even in Europe, and their first time meeting people from such different corners of the world. Eindhoven has been my home for a year now and getting to promote our amazing city and the companies that make it so prosperous made me incredibly proud.

As a specialist in languages and education, it felt strange to be involved in something so completely out of my field. However, it wasn’t out of my field at all because it wasn’t just about technology. It was about how technology can make the world a better place and give students an unforgettable and invaluable experience. How technology can bridge the gaps between language and culture, and bring everyone together through one goal.

Teams waiting for the playoffs and flying their flags

Please, for anyone reading who works in education, if you are part of a school, encourage them to sign up for FIRST® because every child deserves this opportunity.