INSPIRATION IS EVERWHERE

Featured Image

FIRST Alum Pam Wong

Display Title

I donate to help FIRST build a better future.

Sub Title

Pam Wong

FIRST Alum, Donor & Volunteer

Pam is a FIRST® alum from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 1257 “Parallel Universe” in Scotch Plains, NJ. After high school, she earned a degree in psychology with an education minor and now leads a team of analysts and researchers as Director of Performance Metrics and Research at the NYC Department of Education. Her FIRST experience not only inspired her career path in the education sector but also her desire to volunteer and donate to FIRST to help the next generation gain access to life-changing inspiration and community.    

"FIRST demonstrated to me how life-changing educational access and experiential learning can be to a student’s trajectory and how it can set the next generation up for success,” Pam said. “Initially I started volunteering to stay connected to the FIRST community and to pay my own experience as a student forward. The longer that I have volunteered, the more important the mission of FIRST, and therefore supporting it financially, has become to me. I’ve come to understand the variety of ways that FIRST is having an impact on students’ trajectories and how important it is to give back."

What did you do after becoming a FIRST alum?
After high school, I went to university where I earned a degree in psychology, with an education minor. Currently, I’m the Director of Performance Metrics and Research at the NYC Department of Education, where I lead a team of analysts and researchers who develop statistical models to quantify how much students are learning and growing in New York City.

How did your FIRST experience impact your career path?
My experience with FIRST is one of the reasons why I have pursued a career in the education sector. FIRST demonstrated to me how life-changing educational access and experiential learning can be to a student’s trajectory and how it can set the next generation up for success. During my time on my FIRST team, we were a young team, so we all wore a lot of different hats. For me, I focused on helping build, managing our budget, and coordinating travel logistics, and I was our Safety Captain. All that experience has been directly applicable to my career.

How have you stayed involved with FIRST since high school?
Initially I started volunteering to stay connected to the FIRST community and to pay my own experience as a student forward. The longer that I volunteered, the more important the mission of FIRST (and therefore supporting it financially) became to me as I’ve come to understand the variety of ways that FIRST is having an impact on students’ trajectories.

This year I’m especially excited to support the Equity and Access grants for teams that are serving underrepresented/underserved youth. Particularly being in the NYC region, I meet a lot of students who wouldn’t have had the STEM exposure or experience to envision a career path for themselves without their FIRST team and a number of those teams financially struggle to return every season. Those grants, and the companies and individuals who help fund them, are critical in keeping those teams competing and providing opportunity.

What advice would you give future FIRST alum on how they can maximize their FIRST experience and put it to work for them after graduating?
Leverage the network you have from the FIRST community. Every year I hear about some new innovative job or company because a mentor, volunteer, or alum now works there, and everyone I know would be more than happy to share their experience and offer guidance to a FIRST alum.

Also, be sure to have your FIRST experience on your resume and social media because you never know when you’ll encounter someone with a FIRST connection. I’ve had it randomly happen several times, and it’s always a really fun icebreaker, plus I think it tells someone who knows what FIRST is some things about you without you having to say them.

What advice would you give to other alum on the importance of giving financially?
I see it as a way of recognizing how formative my own experience as a student on a team was to me and acknowledging that I wouldn’t have had that experience without the generous giving of other people.

Also, if you do give, find time to come out to a competition, even as a spectator. It’s awesome to walk into a FIRST event and see what your giving, no matter how large or small it is, is doing to make FIRST happen around the world, and the impact that it’s having for teams and students.


Back To Search

FIRST Impact Nov. 21 2023| 0 KB

Content Type:
(41)

FIRST works closely with research and academic organizations to provide tangible evidence of our impact on students’ education and career choices.

Impact Briefs

FIRST Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Impact Highlights

FIRST Longitudinal Study 

FIRST LEGO League General

FIRST LEGO League Discover

FIRST LEGO League Explore

FIRST LEGO League Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Alumni

Contact firstevaluations@firstinspires.org with any questions.

Investing in Employees and Communities, Together

Jun 25, 2019 By Donald E. Bossi, FIRST President


Best-in-class companies are using their social good initiatives to evaluate employees and identify emerging leaders, while helping staff support their communities. This was the topic at a session FIRST President Don Bossi moderated at Engage for Good, an industry-leading conference on social impact.

How to Encourage Youth to Pursue Manufacturing, Middle-Skills Careers

May 29, 2019 By Donald E. Bossi, FIRST President


FIRST President Don Bossi explores how businesses can generate awareness about the possibilities provided by careers in manufacturing, including debunking common misconceptions about middle-skills careers and providing the training, education, and mentorship students need to be successful.

How I Inspire my Students Outside the Classroom

May 13, 2019 By FIRST Staff


For Teacher’s Appreciation Week, we caught up with Woodie Flowers Award winner and district-wide “Teacher of the Year” recipient Gail Drake. As a teacher and FIRST mentor, her goal is “to inspire kids to be the best that they can be, and to give them that feeling internally.”

Broncos Star Casey Kreiter on Science and Competition in Football and Robotics

Apr 15, 2019 Written by FIRST Staff


As we prepare for the Super Bowl of robotics, FIRST Championship, we chatted with Casey Kreiter – Broncos long snapper, Pro Bowl star, science teacher and FIRST supporter – about connections between football and STEM and what makes robotics a great sport.

INSPIRATION IS EVERWHERE

Featured Image

FIRST Alum - Jillian Bejtlich

Display Title

I learned to thrive in ever-changing environments

Sub Title

Jillian Bejtlich

FIRST® Alum & Volunteer

FIRST alum Jillian Bejtlich is from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 40 “Pioneers” and Team 501 “Power Knights” in Manchester, New Hampshire, where she learned to thrive in fast-paced, chaotic, and ever-changing environments. “FIRST also gave me a chance to really solidify my love of math, structural engineering, and design, which absolutely set me up for success as a future engineer and technology leader,” she says. Today, Jillian develops ways to ensure engineers can collaborate with each other regardless of their level or location as a community collaboration strategist for BAE Systems.

What did you do after becoming a FIRST alum?
After graduating high school in 2005, I went on to attend New Hampshire Technical Institute because I knew they had great programs that fit my not-so-great tuition budget. With 37 engineers in my family (out to my first cousins), I knew I wanted to pursue engineering and NHTI ensured I had a wide range of majors to choose from. I ended up choosing architectural engineering technology and it was the perfect fit. From day one, I found NHTI to be a thought-provoking college with an awesome emphasis on hands-on technical work and physics – much like FIRST!

Soon after NHTI, I accepted a position at Autodesk as a technical support specialist which broadened my skills, interests, and future plans. I supported companies across the world as they used Autodesk’s architectural products, ran QA testing on new products, and found new ways to help reach users through the Autodesk user community. All of this eventually led to getting my bachelor’s degree in interactive design technology and my current position as the community collaboration strategist for BAE Systems. I find and develop ways to ensure engineers can collaborate with each other regardless of their level or location.

How has your FIRST experience impacted your post-graduation life?
FIRST has always been an incredibly important part of my life. My parents surprised me in seventh grade with a LEGO MINDSTORMS kit which further fueled my interest in robotics. Soon after, I attended River Rage [an off-season FIRST Robotics Competition event], and I was hooked. I knew whatever high school I attended had to have a FIRST team!

FIRST gave me the leadership and public speaking skills that help me succeed in my life today. Thanks to two years as captain of Team 501, starting multiple FIRST® LEGO® League teams, and my participation on the drive and pit teams, I had a lot of practice with fast-paced, chaotic, and ever-changing environments. FIRST also gave me a chance to really solidify my love of math, structural engineering, and design, which absolutely set me up for success as a future engineer and technology leader.

You’ve continued to be involved with FIRST as an alum; what have you been up to?
Tons! I am one of two head judges in New Hampshire for FIRST LEGO League, the production coordinator for all NH-based FIRST Robotics Competition events, and a mentor for Team 3323 from Litchfield, NH. FIRST creates a connective network of people who are constantly making an impact in the lives of students, which is why I find it important and necessary to remain involved. And it’s fun.

Visit firstinspires.org/alumni for more FIRST Alumni spotlights. Share your story for a chance to be featured.


Why Every Community Needs Youth Robotics Teams

Apr 08, 2019 By Donald E. Bossi, FIRST President


For National Robotics Week, FIRST President Don Bossi explores why, thanks to two great viral news stories from FIRST teams and an exciting new campaign to support educators, our community has a lot to celebrate around raising awareness for the excitement and possibilities of robotics and STEM.

Corporate Goodness: 3 Reasons to Encourage Employees to Volunteer

Mar 25, 2019 By Mark Giordono, Vice President of Development, FIRST


As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of FIRST, we’re also celebrating three decades of great corporate partners.  Mark Giordono, vice president of development at FIRST, shares how corporate employees can be as valuable as checks to nonprofits, while turning employees into your best recruiters.

Being a Voice for Change for Women in STEM

Mar 07, 2019 By Donald E. Bossi, FIRST President


This International Women’s Day, we’re sharing a conversation between FIRST President Don Bossi and FIRST Canada VP of Partnerships Kim Cooper, who recently published a book about creating a more welcoming, diverse and inclusive environment for women in STEM: Girls in Science: Voices for Change.