Is it bad to be over-dedicated to your team?

[Rez648]

Each team has the dedicated few that show up to every meeting, build session, and PR event, but is this a bad thing? I have heard that over-dedication can be a bad thing for a team and the student. I personally consider my self an over-dedicated student and so is my friend, Budda648. However, I find that being over-dedicated is not a bad thing, you just do more than everyone else and you occasionally get made fun of for not having a life outside of robotics. (By the way, robotics is my life right now:D)

[D.J. Fluck]

Each team has the dedicated few that show up to every meeting, build session, and PR event, but is this a bad thing? I have heard that over-dedication can be a bad thing for a team and the student. I personally consider my self an over-dedicated student and so is my friend, Budda648. However, I find that being over-dedicated is not a bad thing, you just do more than everyone else and you occasionally get made fun of for not having a life outside of robotics. (By the way, robotics is my life right now:D)


Really I don't think there is such a thing as overdedication. It just shows that you take pride in what you do and you enjoy what you do. Really the only thing I could see against that is really finding that balance between your schoolwork and robotics. If you think you are "overdedicated", but your grades aren't suffering because of it...I say more power to you.

[Carlo]

I would have to put out my own experiences here. Sophomore year, I was at every meeting for the longest time I was allowed to be. Junior year I'm now working a job 20 hours a week and in much harder courses at school. My grades take priority, and in order to maintain those grades it was necessary to cut back my time at meetings. Now as far as my job, I found that to be of a lesser priority and cut back my hours to a mere 5 hours a week, just enough to pay my bills.

So is being over-dedicated a bad thing? No. Is letting your grades slip a bad thing? Yes. Is losing sight of your priorities a bad thing? Yes.

If you can maintain your grades, still be able to get 8 hours (8 hours is a joke I know) of sleep, and pay your bills while being dedicated to robotics, then go for it.

Carlo

[KenWittlief]

as long as you dont start to think its 'your team' or that you somehow are more deserving of the benefits and priviledges that go with being a team member

you might be an extreemly dedicated person, or you might be obsessed with FIRST as a way to avoid other aspects of your life

it all depends on the individual and their circumstances.

we should produce a warning signs list of addictive behavior:

1. do you have to think about FIRST when you get up in the morning?

2. do you feel uncomfortable at a party unless you are wearing a FIRST tee shirt, or talking about your robot?

3. do you work on your robot when you are alone?

4. has your dedication to FIRST caused relationship problems with your family or friends?

5. Have you ever done FIRST things with total strangers?

6. When you cant participate in FIRST activities do you feel sad and depressed?

7. Have you ever stayed up for 48 hours working on a robot?

8. Do you lie to your friends and family about how much time or money you spend on FIRST?

9. Do you fantasize about taking your robot to school, to work, to church, to the prom? Do you rationalize reasons why this would be a good thing?

10. Do you try to convince others to join FIRST?

11. Do you see the humor in this list? :^)

[JakeGallagher]

as long as you dont start to think its 'your team' or that you somehow are more deserving of the benefits and priviledges that go with being a team member

you might be an extreemly dedicated person, or you might be obsessed with FIRST as a way to avoid other aspects of your life

it all depends on the individual and their circumstances.

we should produce a warning signs list of addictive behavior:

1. do you have to think about FIRST when you get up in the morning?

2. do you feel uncomfortable at a party unless you are wearing a FIRST tee shirt, or talking about your robot?

3. do you work on your robot when you are alone?

4. has your dedication to FIRST caused relationship problems with your family or friends?

5. Have you ever done FIRST things with total strangers?

6. When you cant participate in FIRST activities do you feel sad and depressed?

7. Have you ever stayed up for 48 hours working on a robot?

8. Do you lie to your friends and family about how much time or money you spend on FIRST?

9. Do you fantasize about taking your robot to school, to work, to church, to the prom? Do you rationalize reasons why this would be a good thing?

10. Do you try to convince others to join FIRST?

11. Do you see the humor in this list? :^)

1-10: Yes.
11: No.

I'm overobsessed and proud of it, too.

[Kel D]

I don't think that it is a bad thing if you are over-dedicated to your team but I think it is an issue if you want to be involved in every single thing that the team does. If you want to be in charge of everything and don't let other people get a chance. I admit at times I have been guilty of this. If a new project arises, I immediatly want to be a major player in it, almost like I don't want to miss an edxperience. But things like this can be corrected and every team needs those "over-dedicated" members, its just a fact of life.

[MissInformation]

Of course it can be bad to be over-dedicated to your team. If your grades slip or your health declines because you're too busy doing things for the team, then that is certainly bad. Back when I was president of my college's Campus Activities Board, another student wanted to be involved in every activity we planned. This student kept ignoring these pains in her lower back because every free second she had was spent working on a different event, from calling performers and caterers, to lining up security and ambulances for each event. Eventually those pains sent her to the hospital with a really bad kidney infection and it did do permanent damage to one of her kidneys.

Also, you can over-extend yourself and take on too many tasks, which often leads to a sloppy job being done because you just don't have the time to do everything. You just can’t do it all.

Now, if you're spending all of your free time with your team and your health and grades and what not are all okay, and you are completely happy doing so, then I would just consider you a truly dedicated team member, not over-dedicated.

Heidi

<==========>
Madness takes its toll... please have exact change ready. -Unknown

[ebmonon36]

As others have said, your grades and your health should come before robotics. That said, I don't think there is such thing as over-dedication, there are just different degrees of dedication. The only problem I can see from being extremely dedicated is that if the others around you aren't learning or aren't involved as much as they want to, when the super dedicated graduate from high school, the team might suffer from having them gone and disappear. Just remember to leave your team better off than when you found it. As you advance through high school, be sure that others on the team will be able to take over when you are gone. Hope that makes sense...it did in my head. ;)
Eric

[Jeremiah Johnson]

I am not overdedicated... I just have no life outside of FIRST. That's it. And it is fun. I am just dedicated to something that many people don't understand and don't have the comprehension to understand it. Although, I am never made fun of? (That I know of, those 648 kids can be really mean sometimes) Besides, I just like doing this stuff. Of course, there are somethings that I don't even understand. e.i., programming. It's just fun.

I am also the student in charge of PR that is why I show up to all PR events. It is a big step from 2 years ago when I hardly ever showed up :rolleyes:

And of course, there are those who hardly ever show up but get a lot of credit. I am not going to name names. Bryce you know who I am talking about.

[Joshua May]

I am one of those people you would refer to as being overdedicated (Two weeks after Nats and I'm still hanging around here?) I ahve barely ever missed a meeting, and I spend nearly all of my free time doing something or another dealing with robotics. I'm not obsessed, I still have a life, but it does take a lot of my extracurricular time, and NO, I would NOT bring my robot to the prom, i've got a better bot lined up. :D

[Barry Bonzack]

This year we were a rookie team. Having less than 10 truly dedicated members, I would not consider it a bad thing. We would not have a robot if it were not for the dedication certain students put out. Now as for the little questionaire.... I did not even realize how addicted I was to this! wow! My friends were all thinking that I was going to take the robot to prom!

[LauraN]

What? Obsession? What?? *looks around wildly*

"Over-dedicated" is a relative term. =)

Personally, I talk about FIRST all the time. This is mostly because our team is going through some rough stuff at the moment, and there are a lot of problems whose solutions aren't going to find themselves. Often I hear people tell me, "Geez, you and Kristi talk about FIRST way too much."

I don't think that's necessarily true. I think some people are much more passionate about certain things than others. Is it bad to be "over-dedicated" to the football team? I see being over-dedicated as having a negative connotation. You can be as dedicated as you want, but when you start calling it "over"-dedication is when you have a problem. On that note, I think it's bad to be over-dedicated to school.

Don't get mad just yet! It IS important to do well in school, but it's also important to see the sun every once in awhile. I think the key is balance. If there are other things in your life, you should be fine. Personally I'm a very...intense person. Yes I may be a little obsessed with FIRST, but I'm also a little obsessed with lots of other things (like sports and my youth group.)

I think it's great to see people truly dedicated to FIRST. Or to anything for that matter. I think it's great to see students who normally aren't excited about school be excited about robotics. Do they still need to do well in school? Of course. But there's nothing wrong with having some passion every now and then.

[Venkatesh]

The prefix "over" simply means too much. There are many people in FIRST who are very dedicated to their teams. There are few people who are overdedicated. I believe that overdedication is a problem, because when one is overdedicated, one ties their own personal well-being with the success/failure of the robot/team. Such a person can't easily have fun with FIRST, because FIRST does not encourage success, but instead inspiration.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

The real problem in "under-dedication." You have to be dedicated in some sort to be good at what you do.

[abeD]

Over-dedication can be a problem in some cases...

This is my senior year in high school i took 5 ap courses this year some being the most challenging my school has to give. This being said i spent hundreds of hours in the machine shop this year and countless hours at night here on delphi the end result being a significant drop in grades from my junior to senior year. thankfully i had allready been accepted into college but still..overdedication can be a problem...remember FIRST is just an extracuricular activity in which most of the work is technichan's work...what gets you into college are good grades and a good course load...as my mom always said, "getting good grades gives you the freedom to chose to be whatever you want and go wherever you want"

[Ryan M.]

Each team has the dedicated few that show up to every meeting, build session, and PR event, but is this a bad thing?Yeah, those are the bad ones. The good ones do the bad stuff, plus wear T-shirts and pins to school everyday, despite being spit upon by their fellow classmates...

Over dedication... I mean, what's that!!!! :)

[tiffany34990]

umm i'm competely dedicated to my team-- die for S.P.A.M. that's pretty much it-- but i still maintain my school work and grades ofcourse since our team makes sure we maintain a 3.0--no D, or Fs allowed to travel-- and well I can't always go to all night meetings since of school but I'm totally dedicated-- i always support our team and other teams too--but when i miss a meeting i'm sad-- i luv going to the meeting cause well robotics is my stress relief-- and i luv working on the machines-- :)
I think u can be dedicated as long as you don't act like you own the team- it's a team and you all work together.

and to that list-- yes i find humor in it!!

[Kiwi_queen]

reading through Ken Wittlief's "checklist", I said "yes" to every single question (although the stuff about "working on robots" is in my case altered to "working on stuff for robotics").

I've lost count about how many arguments I've gotten into with my mom and aunt about my involvement in robotics (and subsequently, the amount of money spent on it).
and my non-robotics friends all make jokes about the amount of robotics-related stuff I carry around in my purse with me at all times (y'know..the essentials..safety glasses, zipties, mini-screwdrivers, measuring tape, duck tape...etc)

gotta love that robotics!

[Goobergunch]

9. Do you fantasize about taking your robot to school, to work, to church, to the prom? Do you rationalize reasons why this would be a good thing?

*points to sig line*

Without Robotics, I probably wouldn't have a life - okay, so I don't have one anyway (taking 4 APs and having the oddest lunch period in the school will do that to you), but without Robotics I'd have a negative life. ;)

So yes to 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10 (and possibly 3).
No to 4, mainly because almost all of my friends are on the team.

[Liz Smith]

and my non-robotics friends all make jokes about the amount of robotics-related stuff I carry around in my purse with me at all times (y'know..the essentials..safety glasses, zipties, mini-screwdrivers, measuring tape, duck tape...etc)

gotta love that robotics!

Yeah, my mom wonders why I would ever keep safety glasses, 3 or 4 sharpies, plastic chain and 1/2 inch collars in my purse.... It's because I love robotics! I come to all of the meetings too, and I really care a lot about the team, but I don't know if I would say that I'm overdedicated. Also, unlike some people, Robotics hasn't taken me away from relationships with people, but instead has brought me close to a lot of other people.

[Guest]

as long as you dont start to think its 'your team' or that you somehow are more deserving of the benefits and priviledges that go with being a team memberI agree the over dedication to the point where no one else contributes would definitely be a bad thing. Some teams (like ours) have a small group of 'core' members that fill up leadership roles and take a unequal weight of the work on their shoulders. I can see how a this would be a problem when the 'core' team graduates. So my take on the issue:

Over dedication is good as long as you are soooo dedicated to the team that you'll prepare the team for success even after you leave.

[KenWittlief]

[boy I hate to have to do this but]

FIRST is OVER - the championship was two weeks ago!

GO HOME!

GET LOST!

I DONT LIKE YOU ANYMORE! Go find something else to do till next january
.
.
.
.
.
[looks around - are they gone? now I'll have no one to talk to until next year]

um.... guys...... hey wait for me.... dont leave me here by myself

hello?!

ok you can hang around in the chitchat forum, but thats all

[Adam Y.]

Over dedication is good as long as you are soooo dedicated to the team that you'll prepare the team for success even after you leave.
Im not too worried about my replacement. He is a little hyper and really tends to think big. He told me he wanted to install a water cooling system for our drill motors. :ahh:
Yeah Im pathetic. My uncle sends me his old tools(caliper and micrometer from Sears) that he used to create bullets. I know they must be good because my uncle is still in one piece. I literrally spent 400 to 500 dollars on robotics books. The sad fact is that I just learned the company that I buy these books from is a sponsor for a team.

[mtaman02]

hrm? over addicted to a team / FIRST --- yep thats me :(. I mean it isn't a bad thing to be addicted to something that you enjoy doing and enjoy helping others do what you have done. However you have to remember:

If your a graduated member from the team - you are considered a team alumni and are welcome to continue to support the team, just so long as you don't consider your self a team player. (Driver or any other Team Roles out there).

If your not a graduated member from the team [still in hs] - your addiction is not a huge problem b/c your coaches and captain / president expect to see you alot of work for the team. whether its just you or a group of people.

As my ex-coach would always tell the visitors going to see the team that have asked about past and current members.... "They would take the door off the hinges if I didn't let them in" this would apply for both the alumni & current members.

It has become tradition to wait in front of the school @ 6am and wait for the coaches to arrive so that robotics work can get underway. Normal Robotics close up time would be around 3:30pm if there wasn't a meeting. And during build season the days would usually end 6-7pm and continued work on a saturday / holiday if whether and school personal permitted.

As you can see by the above statements, It's quite normal to be a dedicated member b/c in the end the job gets done whether you helped / watched / or did it yourself. I wish that these so called Vet Teams could go up against multiple alumni teams.

For instance an "X" amount of team members from "X" amount of teams may form one team. and another set of team members from various teams may form another team etc...... After all the Alumni members have a team that they;re on. they may build a robot during build season and have a mini-compeitition going up against the regional champions / finalists and Championship Champions from the year b4. This would not only help solve some addiction but would also see how much we have learned from our coaches, and fellow teams in how to build a successful robot and team. However Funding may play an issue.

Reguardless this sounds like a decent idea.

[Bcahn836]

I personally have put in over 100 hours overtime into the building of this years robot, I show up to all the meetings even on the weekends except Sunday (race day NASCAR).In fact the only day i missed last year was a religious holiday, the Daytona 500.LOL. And those 100 hours are all after school and does not include the time i put in during my engineering class. However i am not the only one. we have about 15 people and mentors that have just as many if not more hours than i do. I don't think this is a bad thing, we get things done when they have to be done, and we always have atleast one or two people from each sub team.

[Denman]

Overdedication:
It can be good, as it enables the things to be done more quickly.
Most people have said that it is bad forgrades, this isn't bad for the team, but its bad for youself (points out off topic)
The only bad effect is that the peoplewhoa re over dedicated, get really grumpy andsay they made the whole robot, and thus theyhave to control it etc.
Everyone needs to be dedicated, but overdedication is bad for the team spirit and can cause the teams to have major arguments and maybe even split, and thus make the competition less fun.

[c-squared_2006]

Well it really depends on the person's definition of over dedication. What may to too much commitment to one person may be nothing to another. I really depends on the person. But dedication is something that everyone should strive for. Not every one necessairly have to have the same definition of dedication, it really just satisfying your own thinking. Personally I've been plenty commited, but not enough for my own liking.

[Koko Ed]

It's bad to be over-dedicated if you're married.













*gulp!*

[Tytus Gerrish]

im completely decidated to my team, im so dedicated that my dedication spilled over to another team and i help them. And im Completekly dedicated to my legoleague team as well.

[aaronbr28040]

There is a difference between being dedicated and being over dedicated. Just because you sacrifice other things for the team does not necessarily mean you are overdedicated. Anytime you want to be involved in something sacrifices must be made. In my opinion FIRST is such a valuable experiece that it is worth the sacrifices. I know my grades dropped 3rd Quarter (during build season) and at the beginning of 4th Quarter. I knew that the amount of time and energy that I was putting in during build season would make them drop, I just accepted it and continued. I dont ever think that I will regret the time spent and sacrifices made, but I've been accepted to college since November so I didnt have that bearing down on me. If you are a freshman, sophmore, or junior you need to sit down and think about what effects dropping grades could have on your future. Every person also has their limit and different people have better or worse time management skills. Do like you will have to in college, and in the real world. Prioritize everything that needs to be done, and dont always put robotics first or you will suffer in the end.
-Aaron

[looneylin]

honestly... i'm an obsessive compulsive person... so being over-dedicated for weeks at a time is common for me... but it does do good for the team. like i learned how to animate and started drawing all these logos for the firebirds. robotics is really neat so just b/c i talk about it doesn't mean i don't have life *or do i* hehe!!! ppl just don't understand robotics, they think it's some sort of geek fest. at least i'm not the only one with this problem... :D

[Arefin Bari]

for the past two years... there was not a single meeting that i have missed... or not a single competition... i was always there... on my team i am known as the tranny guy or the mechanical man and yes i am OVER dedicated... from my experience i think overdedication puts you down sometime... by peers... and lots of other things... now the question is... do i really care.. or did i stop being dedicated to my team... answer is no... and wont give up... FIRST has made me confident in myself that i can stick with them for my whole life...

[Joe Matt]

As part of a shrinking team, I have to say overdedication isn't the problem, but over reliance on that person or people is. Use them, but also develope skills outside of them too.

[ctorloey]

I dont like to say this but FIRST is just an extra in schools and has to come second to some things, like school grades or a job, making over-dedication a problem some times. But I'm not going to say it is a bad thing because this year I got into about a seven hours a night schedule after the kick off.

Is it bad... no...
Is it the first thing in life... no...

[SgtMillhouse648]

Over dedication isn't a problem, underdetication is. Over-Confidence is an even bigger problem. It is the people that say they are really enthusiastic in the beginning, saying they will be at almost every meeting, do so much, and then never show up again, or worse, show up at the very end to take credit for everything they did that is a problem.

[vivek16]

it depends on your definition of "over-dedication". my definition of over dedication is when you start to be too bossy or being elitist to the other members of the team. if you show up to all the meetings and help out as much as you can then you are just being dedicated to the team, that is what i kind of expect myself of anything i willingly join. and besides, its fun:p

-vivek

[Pavan Dave]

To a degree it can hurt you, especially if you don't know how to prioritize your time. I was so eager for FIRST and robotics that BEFORE the season started, I spent time trying to find clues to the hints and more so to learn everything I could that I didn't understand last year, I ended up not being able to participate due to grades for a period in the build season. Why? I didn't do my work because I didn't think it was as important as robotics. After that, I got my act together and realized that what my mentors have been trying to engrave in our heads was actually true:Family > School > Robotics.

You can be over-dedicated and that isn't a bad thing as long as you can sort out your priorities and do what is more important first.

Peace.

[Nica F.]

You can be over-dedicated and that isn't a bad thing as long as you can sort out your priorities and do what is more important first.




I second that,
and also, when some people get really into it, they start to hog jobs, or end up not taking time to help or teach others on the team.

don't forget to share the passion! ;)

[Josh Murphy]

I don't believe that it is bad to be over dedicated. I would consider myself to be extremely over dedicated but I would not exchange the experience I gained from working with Chief Delphi for anything. I am sure many of you feel this way about your teams also because they changed your life in some way to. I would rather be over dedicated any day than to be under dedicated.:)

[Bomberofdoom]

It's kind of a diversion of the main topic, but still, it's related.


Why do you guys over-dedicate or just dedicate alot for your team? What do you wish to accomplish by doing that?

In my opinon, I'm overdedicating for my team because I see we can find in ourselves alot of potential like other teams have found. I see some of the other team members rather rest for a bit than work a little harder and I try to help my team reach farther, somtimes alone, somtimes with a few dedicated people.
I just feel that by dedicating all I have now, I'll enjoy my time in the FRC much more and feel that I have learned more and reached higher peaks in alot of stuff, not only terms of education, but in life too. And these feeling will go with me after FRC and into the rest of my life.

I might not realize that I'm overdoing myself, but I just keep going.

Is that OK/normal?

And What about you guys?

[LadySparks1]

Over dedicated is not bad. you've chosen what you like and obviously enough you're doing it. I agree that you need to have your priorities staight and you can't lose control, but still. over-dedicated people are neccesary. I would try to explain why but that would only lead me off into an exstensive schpeel.

And as to the question of why. Well if you find something you love why would you want to do something else instead. That would be stupid, granted thousands of people do it any way. So let me amend my previous statement, If you find what you love and you are given the opportunity to do it, why wouldn't you? That wouldn't even be insanity, it would just be stupid.

[Tottanka]

I am right now (3:24 AM), looking at CD.
Thinking of what FIRST-related thing i can do, and been excited about my team's off season meetng tommorow, in which we should accomplish the new chasis we are building.
Is that over-edicted?

[Tim Delles]

Ok this is coming from a student who was hurt because he put FIRST before everything else.

DO NOT LET FIRST BECOME NUMBER 1 TO YOU!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Believe me, my freshman year in college i decide to allow FIRST to become my #1 priority. However because i did this, I lost valuable studying time, and also missed some of my classes. Looking back I realized how large of a mistake it was. Because of this my GPA took a crash downwards (well it actually started down because of this).

Always put school before FIRST. Before going to meetings make sure you have what you need done for school (This is one of the largest reasons i believe schools should make students maintain a certain GPA to participate... because this could just as easily happen to a high school student and effect there college outcome)

And also make sure you have a social life. Fortunately I made many friends outside of FIRST, however if you are completely wrapped up in FIRST you will have no time for yourself. In order to stay sane through school and everything else that can happen in a person's life you have to have time to relax.

So take this as a warning for both high school students and college bound students. Take FIRST slowly, and set limits.

I hope no one gets burnt out.

[Elgin Clock]

To an extent yes.
But it depends on the person.

I'll leave my response at that for now.

[vivek16]

heck no, just bad to deprive others from learning because you want to do everything and being bossy. makes ppl dislike you and causes teamwork trouble.

-vivek

[Stephi Rae]

Ok this is coming from a student who was hurt because he put FIRST before everything else.

DO NOT LET FIRST BECOME NUMBER 1 TO YOU!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Believe me, my freshman year in college i decide to allow FIRST to become my #1 priority. However because i did this, I lost valuable studying time, and also missed some of my classes. Looking back I realized how large of a mistake it was. Because of this my GPA took a crash downwards (well it actually started down because of this).

Always put school before FIRST. Before going to meetings make sure you have what you need done for school (This is one of the largest reasons i believe schools should make students maintain a certain GPA to participate... because this could just as easily happen to a high school student and effect there college outcome)

And also make sure you have a social life. Fortunately I made many friends outside of FIRST, however if you are completely wrapped up in FIRST you will have no time for yourself. In order to stay sane through school and everything else that can happen in a person's life you have to have time to relax.

So take this as a warning for both high school students and college bound students. Take FIRST slowly, and set limits.

I hope no one gets burnt out.



This is very true, and I agree with your point, however, my experience was almost... opposite...

FIRST can also be something so good for you, that it can change your life so much for the better. When I found FIRST, I was on the edge of burn out from other things. From my classes, two soccer teams, three training programs, science olympiad, orchestra, and many other things that i don't really want to spend the time to list. Throughout the build season i didn't understand what FIRST was. to make this short, let's just say that I burnt out, found FIRST, and it saved my life. It is the one thing that kept me from dropping out of school. i went from a 3.8 to a 2.7 in one quarter. but FIRST was there for me and it's what kept me going and motivated me to change my life. i am so grateful for that! there was a point where i just quit everything else and just focused on FIRST. that's what kept me floating in school. FIRST kept me motivated to keep trying and stick out the year. FIRST is my number 1, but I know now to be careful. and that when 2, 3, and 4 follow close behind it important for them not to be forgotten. now i am going to be really late for church so i can't say anymore :ahh:

[joeweber]

What is over dedicated, it is in the eye of the beholder. If a track star practices every day, or a debate team pratices every day, they mostly do it because they love the results. Working with robotics in all of its forms are very rewarding and in the long run will lead to a better life after graduation. As a mentor we do very much appreciate the dedicated student because we have so much to do that it is nice when we can count on a student to do their job. If students did not show up, who would learn. Far as over dedication as a mentor I am really over dedicated, we keep going through the whole year even sumer. But the reward is the best when we see students going of to collage that would normally go get a job at fast food.
Keep enjoying robotics, life can be fun if you put your MIND to it.

[Deacon Blues]

I show up to every meeting and I don't see over-dedication as a bad thing. Hanging out in the PR room with the fellow nerds and writers was awesome though, and any time everything became too much about robotics we could just go chair jousting or driving around to food stores or get into arguments about the proper way to make money plural. It was surprisingly social and cool, just to hang out with like minded people.

So no, I don't see a problem with over-dedication provided meetings aren't all about building and discussing building. It's important to take a minute and discuss the existence of narwhals or why you should totally ask out the team's art designer.

[FunkyRatDemon]

Each team has the dedicated few that show up to every meeting, build session, and PR event, but is this a bad thing? I have heard that over-dedication can be a bad thing for a team and the student. I personally consider my self an over-dedicated student and so is my friend, Budda648. However, I find that being over-dedicated is not a bad thing, you just do more than everyone else and you occasionally get made fun of for not having a life outside of robotics. (By the way, robotics is my life right now:D)

I think I win this...

I set up the Central Oregon technology Showcase for team 753 and invited 997 (997 couldn't show). I got in a car accident (totaled my car) at 11:00 PM the night before. Sent an e-mail to the Team Coach at 3:00AM, saying how sad i was...and felt upset the entire day because i didn't go to it...

[GaryVoshol]

There's a difference between over-dedicated and over-committed. I don't think you can be over-dedicated, meaning the feelings you have for your team.

Commitment is something else. If you are committed to only working on your team, you need to refocus your life. There are other commitments that you have that need to be priorities - your family, your schoolwork, your God. If you over-commit to working on your team, the rest of your life can suffer.

[Alan Anderson]

There's a difference between over-dedicated and over-committed.

"You must spread some reputation around before giving it to GaryVoshol again."

[andyhoyt911]

There is no such thing as over-dedicated. In fact, I would love it if my team, which currently consists of about 5 people total (we lost 12 seniors last year) would be more dedicated! Dedication is key when it comes to your team.:yikes:

[mtaman02]

While it's never bad to be over-dedicated to your team it is however suggested that you know your boundaries when it becomes dedicated to them.

[John Gutmann]

Dedication:
Property given and accepted as a grant to the public.

What did you give your team too much land or something? :p

But seriously it depends on your situation. It can be defined quite simply. If FIRST is causing negative effects in your life (ie bad grades, loss of needed money, relationship problems, sleep problems, social problems) then yes its bad. If everything is well say happy and dandy then keep FIRSTing away.

-John