"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." ~Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST, which stands for ' For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology'. As Dean Kamen said, teams participating in the FIRST Tech Challenge have been inspired to follow gracious professionalism. Jesse Owens, the track and field athlete who achieved what no Olympian before him had accomplished, once said , "You can melt down all the gold medals and cups I have, and they couldn't be a plating on the 24-carat friendship I felt for Luz Long at that moment. I realised then , too, that Luz was the personification of what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, must have had in mind when he said, "
The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well." Hitler had spread the myth that one ethnic group was superior to all others, and refused to acknowledge that a 'black' man could ever be successful. This affected the African-American athlete, Jesse Owens, so badly that he almost failed to qualify for the long jump finals. The situation seemed hopeless until his rival, Luz Long , a German athlete, spoke to him encouragingly giving Owens a tip that helped him qualify. Long knew that if Owen succeeded, it might jeopardise his chances of winning the gold medal since they were competing against each other. Nevertheless, Luz Long put winning a medal at risk and continued to urge Owens to try harder. Luz Long's act of gracious professionalism led to a life long friendship between the two famous athletes. Many people confuse gracious professionalism as sportsmanship, but it is much more. Sportsmanship implies behaviour during a competitive event and good sportsmanship includes politeness and understanding mannerism. Gracious professionalism is having a true core value inside yourself of consideration for others and positively supporting and perpetuating the culture of FIRST. It's the idea of working for the common good of the sport. If you support your rivals, they will make more worthy and challenging opponents next year. The better your opponent, the harder you work. The harder you work (on a worthy goal), the better you are. All benefit. All improve. The future has more hope.
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