Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

My experience was that I did it my freshman year, got burned out, so took the rest of college off from FIRST. After graduating and getting a job, one of the first things I did was to find another FRC team to mentor. It's been great so far.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

From my experience it is best to take a bit of a step back, at least for the first year or so. Since going to college, I have still been involved with my old team: helping them out with the first few weeks of build season when I'm on break, attending whatever competitions I can to cheer them on, or just doing small volunteering jobs here and there. I've tried to help a rookie team nearby my school this year, but just couldn't commit enough time to it, while also focussing on my coursework.

My advice would be to take a step back from your original team so the upcoming high school students can learn to take over your old jobs (as tough as it is to give your old jobs up... the high schoolers really got to be the main work bulk of the team). Also, being a mentor is a very different position and dynamic than being a student, and making that jump right away can be difficult for both you and the current students on the team. You can still visit and help in small ways, or find a team closer to your college to help a bit.

Overall, try and find your college routine and then see if a mentoring position fits into that. After all, the main goal of FIRST is to help raise up future leaders in STEM, and if you aren't focussing on your coursework in college, that wont be possible.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

If possible, take a break. Join an SAE team or other collegiate-level engineering competition. It will broaden your horizons, offer new challenges, sharpen certain professional skills that FRC doesn't, and introduce you to a new set of people. FIRST and FRC are great, but they're not the end-all be-all of engineering competitions.

When you finish college, then start being a coach. It will make the transition from student to mentor easier (you won't be coaching students who were your peers the year before) and you'll have a better, bigger set of skills and a fresh perspective.

This does not preclude staying involved in smaller ways, but I would recommend against being a full-fledged coach during college. But not for time/course load reasons.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Take off at least your freshman year. Adjusting to college life is hard enough without having to worry about robotics. Make sure you start out your first year on the right foot and then re-evaluate your situation the following year.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

As a few people mentioned, it really is unique for every person.

After graduating high school, I moved to Indiana (~6 hours away) for college. My plan was to take a year off as many suggest and do SAE, but when I got to Rose, there was already an effort to start a rookie team as I was planning to do my sophomore year. Knowing myself, there was no way I wouldn't get involved.

I didn't find the transition from student to mentor all that difficult. There are probably several factors that led into this; I came from a team that heavily emphasizes older students teaching younger students, I was mentoring a whole new group of kids I'd never met before and that were new to the program, and the entire local FRC community was completely different than the one I had competed in as a student. The fresh start made the transition easy for me, but I can understand how it would be difficult for someone mentoring their old high school team.

There is quite a difference between being a student and being a mentor (though this might be a byproduct of the two different team cultures I was a part of). In high school, I didn't really have to worry about much except robot and outreach. As a mentor, you see a completely different side to running a team: logistics, liability, relationships with your sponsors, etc. In my case, there was an entire side to mentoring that I very much underestimated.

The time required definitely took a toll on the rest of my life though. My winter quarter GPA was much lower than I would've liked (definitely could have been worse though), and now spring has turned into catch up time. On the other hand, I was able to help start a team that has exceeded every expectation of mine of what they could accomplish, and I couldn't be prouder of them. Was it worth it? I guess only time will tell.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Take off at least your freshman year. Adjusting to college life is hard enough without having to worry about robotics. Make sure you start out your first year on the right foot and then re-evaluate your situation the following year.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

As several posters have noted, there is no one right solution. Time management is an important skill. There was no FRC when I went to college, but I had to balance school and athletics. For me being in a sport helped, because it forced me to manage my time right from the start of school. And I would probably not have done that if I hadn't been running. For some the time demands of a sport or FRC are too much. My suggestion is to pay attention to your workload in the fall. If you feel like you would have time to mentor, then later in the fall find an FRC team and ask if they need help. If you feel like you wouldn't have time, take a break from FRC. Maybe mentor your old team remotely with programming advice to stay connected without burning up a bunch of your time.

We almost always have a couple of Ohio State freshmen mentoring our team. One thing to consider is limiting your time. Several of the OSU freshmen come only to our Saturday meetings. This is where we most need the mentor support so it works out for us and for them.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

JUST DO IT, YOU ONLY WORK HARD UNDER LOAD.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

An FSAE build, especially from scratch, makes an FRC build look like a walk in the park.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

My recommendation is to take a break. Enjoy college, figure out the transition, and then make a decision your sophomore year. I would recommend volunteering at an event and staying in touch with your team, but don't commit to anything.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

FIRST is a HUGE time commitment and so is college. Perhaps it would be just as well to volunteer at events instead til you get a good idea of what you are up against in school.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Many posters have made good points so far, I'd like to point out one additional thing. Making the transition from student to mentor is not an easy one (8 years + as a mentor and I'm still learning), but mentoring the same team you were just a student on is a whole different ball game. To many of the students and current mentors you will still just be a student. My suggestion, if you are going to be a mentor, locate another team, or volunteer at events for a season.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I like Zach's philosophy on the topic.

If you are really committed to helping a team, do it in a role where if you don't show up the team can still function without you. For example, if you want to go machine parts for a Saturday that is a great way to contribute. Don't take on large amounts of responsibility though.

I mentored for 2 years as a freshman and sophomore, and took junior and senior year off. I enjoyed life a lot more as a junior and senior, but to each their own.

You only get to experience college for 4 (hopefully not 5 or 6) years, FIRST will be around when you get out.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I'm in a similar boat as Rahul here, although mentoring an established team leaves me with less responsibilities then him, which is something I applaud him for.

It really is a unique thing for every person. I've always been fairly decent at time management, so it hasn't been much of a struggle up until the past few weeks (4 consecutive weeks of competing). For now, it seems to have been worth it/the right decision. In the end, only time will tell.

Next year puts me in an interesting position though, as due to Northeastern's co-op system, I'll be on co-op during build season for the next three years.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

As others have said, this really, really varies by person and situation. I went to school for Industrial Engineering, and there weren't any extravehicular activities that appealed to me more than FIRST did (especially since I was more into the teaming, strategy, and student learning parts of it than the mechanics of the robot itself). The first year is always difficult to transition in, however I would argue that it is this way for almost all adult mentors I have worked with as well.

It was the right thing for me, and I would do it the same way again. That being said, I know many individuals who it has not worked for--usually because they come back and try to continue being students, and depending on how the team you're on works, that may or may not fly.