After three years of sponsoring Mexican FIRST Robotics Competition teams, my company, Peñoles, found that FIRST is a complete life experience for our kids.

Most of the students have to work to help support their families, live in dangerous communities, and travel up to three hours to go to school. We are blown away by their courage — to accept a technology challenge in an environment where computers, smart phones, or tablets are not available; to ride a bike home for two hours in the middle of the night; to work hard with Mentors to learn life skills like how to eat using silverware as well as teamwork, respect, and responsibility; to believe that their pre-conceived destiny can be radically different.