Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

With my team's competition season over, I'm very split about what my involvement in FIRST should be next year. I was involved as a student on my high school team for 6 years, four years as a programmer and two years as project manager. I've already made the decision that I will stay involved with this team through the summer but stop this involvement when the new school year begins.

I'll be commuting to a school about 30 minutes from home and there are a number of teams in my area that I could see mentoring. However, I'm worried that as a college freshman, my work load would be too much to actively mentor an FRC team while still maintaining some set semblance of a life. I'm wondering what experience and advice others have with this.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

There's no uniform answer to this question. Plenty of individuals have found plenty of benefit in taking a break from FIRST (or at least team involvement) once they begin college. Plenty of others, including myself, have jumped right in with new teams. If I did it again, I may have taken a year or two off before jumping in, but I don't regret my decision. There's plenty of adjustment to the college life, and workload very well may be a concern depending on what classes you're taking and your professors. Do remember that you can stay involved in FIRST without becoming a mentor. Regionals are always looking for volunteers.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

From my experience as a college student, mentoring as a freshman was not a problem. Now... being lead mentor as a third-year with ~17 credits, that is something to avoid :eek:.

*MechE and Comp Sci

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Read this, it helped me in dealing with that question this year.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

In addition to that thread, this thread is also helpful.
College is a big adjustment, but only you know the workload you can and cannot sustain before everything suffers. Schoolwork before robotics, no matter how much we wish it was the other way around.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Like the above have mentioned, all situations are unique.

I am in my second year at UW-Milwaukee studying Mechanical Engineering and I have mentored/drive coached my team 1732 for both years during college and the hardest part about it was finding a ride to meetings because I do not have access to a car.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Check out this thread as well.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Another good resource is this Tumblr post from Libby Kamen.
Tumblr Post

Every situation is unique but you're going into it with the right mindset, take advice and then do what's best for you.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Mentoring in your freshman year of college is really tough. I don't recommend it to anyone unless they've mastered the ability to manage time and network easily with other people. Part of the "freshman experience" at college is having time to meet others and network with people, learning new things and going through new experiences. It might be easiest to take a year off from FIRST to enjoy your freshman year of college, and really get a grip for what you want to do in college and in your future.

Don't underestimate the workload for college either. I barely kept my scholarship (GPA > 3.0) my freshman year, and mostly due to monster drinks and non stop studying for finals so I could keep my A's and raise my C's to B's in all of my classes. You want to be able to get a gauge for how much of a workload your major classes have, and based on that, maybe get a little bit more involved. Try volunteering at local events instead, if you can't quell your FIRST addiction.

FIRST can wait. Your academics and future can't.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Even after a successful season of mentoring, I don't really recommend doing it in college.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I only reccommend it if you have already accepted you are clinically insane or suffer an addiction.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I'd take a break for a bit. Personally, it was nice to take a step back. I still stayed involved with FIRST - I build things for the community, browse Chief, occasionally watch webcasts, volunteer at events - but I'm not directly involved with a team. After a year off, maybe evaluate if you have the time to get involved again, and if that's what you want to do. Just because you leave for a year doesn't mean you can't come back!

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Most college students aren't mature enough to be effective mentors. I would not have admitted to this when I was in college, but it definitely applied to me too.

College is a great time to try other design competitions like Design/Build/Fly, FormulaSAE, FormulaHybrid, or just do your own thing. Chances are you won't be building competitive robots in your professional life, so you might as well try something else. FIRST will still be here in a few years should you decide to give back then. :)

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I just want to say you have to decide for yourself. Don't let any of us change what you want to do, just use what we say as advice not as the right or wrong way of doing things.

For me personally, mentoring as a college Freshman has not been that hard.IF you do you just have to balance you time and make sure you don't let your grades slip. It would be just working that time management skill that helps you later in life. But it is your choice in the end, hope this helps!

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I am a big fan of Zach's approach. Stay involved via volunteering and other elements. Volunteering at events can help you build up a useful network for when you return to mentoring.

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.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

Let me start by saying there is no `correct' answer to this question. FIRST is a huge time commitment, but it can be equally rewarding. Here's my story as further anecdotal evidence to guide your decision.

After I graduated high school, I had no explicit intention to mentor a team. In fact, there wasn't a team near the University of Illinois at the time. In my first few weeks at college, I was starting to get involved in a collegiate team, and this is when things started moving quickly. A junior in the club had been working on starting an FRC team for a couple years and he was looking for interested people to mentor. At the same time, a local engineer was looking to start an FTC team (which I had no experience with). Since the collegiate team did nothing in the fall, I signed up as a mentor for the FTC team. It was great, but a huge time commitment. My school workload was manageable, so it wasn't too bad, but it did force me to manage my time more than the average freshman.

Near the end of the FTC season, I was asked to join in on forming the FRC team. I didn't really give it much thought before I said `yes'. My second semester had more coursework and more robotics, so it was quite an ordeal. It was also a great time. I became good friends with my fellow collegiate mentors (there were 4 of us that year - 2 freshmen, 1 junior, 1 grad student) and remained involved in the collegiate team in an administrative role.

In the two years since, the FTC team has disbanded in order to allow the students to focus more on FRC off season outreach and training instead of another competition. This has also given mentors more of a break in the fall. I've started intentionally overloading my fall schedule to allow for a light schedule during build season, but even doing this doesn't solve everything. I'm confident that my involvement in FRC has caused me to pull more all-nighters than many of my colleagues, and I've had to do some careful scheduling in group projects so I contribute my fair share.

That said, if I were to do this all over again, I would mentor FRC as a college student. The experience has been exceptionally rewarding (plus I have tons of experiences that sound great on behavioral interviews) and I've met some awesome people. It's tough, but it can be done. Determine what your priorities are, what your schedule will be, then make a decision. I've been able to maintain a GPA over 3.5 in computer engineering while mentoring, but everyone's different.

Best of luck in your future endeavors. You'll have your entire career to give back even if you aren't able to mentor in college.

Re: Mentoring as a College Freshman
 

I have been mentoring a VEX robotics team throughout all four years of college. Over the course of the year-long competition season, we actually total more hours than we did in FRC, but since those hours are more spread out, the immediate impact on your schedule is not as harsh. I would recommend looking into it as an alternative.