My name is Laura Treers, I’m a new faculty member at the University of Vermont in the Mechanical Engineering Department. I continue to be involved in FIRST because of the immense impact it has had on my life, as a student and later as a mentor. The story all started about 12 years ago, in Upstate New York, when I joined my high school’s robotics team.  We were a scrappy underdog team with very limited money and resources, but we fought hard through lots of tournaments and eventually made it all the way to the FIRST World Championships my senior year. We packed up everything into my family’s minivan, and my mom drove the six of us all the way from New York to Saint Louis, Missouri. We brought with us a little bit of hope, and a robot made mostly out of duck tape and zip ties, and somehow brought home the name of “most gracious team” in the world. 

I didn’t know it then, but I know now, that FIRST robotics undeniably changed the trajectory of my life. It gave my timid high school self the confidence to feel like I could do anything I set my mind to, with enough guts, grit, and a little mechanical ingenuity. That experience proved to me firsthand that passion goes a long way, and that my background, my gender, or where I was from didn’t limit what was possible for me. 

I went on to get both my undergrad and graduate degrees in mechanical engineering, and then was a postdoc in physics, bouncing around the country in pursuit of cool science. For the past 6 or so years, I’ve gotten to know lots of incredible students on various teams I’ve mentored along the way. For four seasons, I was the head coach for FTC team Roses & Rivets in Oakland, CA, which started as an idea by two high school freshmen who wanted to create an inclusive space for girls in STEM.   While in a postdoctoral position at Georgia Tech, I got to know the students of Team 1648 G3 out of Midtown Atlanta, and travel with their robot to the Peachtree District Championships. And now, here in Vermont, I get to work with our local 9101 Green Mountain Robotics, and with them strive to grow FIRST programming all across our state.  

Through mentoring, I’ve always felt an obligation to give back to this program that did so much for me, but in the process realized something else – I didn’t just love building robots, I loved sharing that passion with younger students. As a mentor, I love helping a student discover the process of designing something, building it, watching it break, and inevitably finding joy when they can see their vision become reality. My experience mentoring was part of what helped me discover a love for teaching, and eventually encouraged me to go into academia. As FIRST continues to remind me, there’s real joy and wonder in designing and building mechanical systems, and I hope that through the courses I teach and through advising students in research, I can help spread that joy across the UVM campus as well. 

FIRST is an amazing program that not only prepares students for the challenges of college and a future STEM career, but has the power to transform communities and give students a sense of belonging. I hope that by growing these programs across our state, we can continue to build a bright future for young people despite challenging times.