Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I am a 2016 FIRST Graduate who is taking a gap year between highschool and college. I am wondering if this is common for FIRST students, or if any would like to share their stories.

Re: [OCCRA]: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I'm a 2016 FIRST graduate as well. I've decided on taking at least 1 gap year with some low-key involvement in FIRST (like volunteering at offseason and season events). I made the decision because I knew Engineering school would be a tough transition from high school. I also wanted to take the time to explore other organizations in college that may interest me.

I believe this is a common thing for FIRST students taking at least a gap year, but I know a many cases where a student starts mentoring right away.

Re: [OCCRA]: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

At a church convention a few years ago, we had a report from a gap year service program (vaguely like Peace Corps, but 1 year and organized through the church) which included four or five testimonials by young people in the program. One of them mentioned some experiences in high school which sounded a lot like a FIRST program. Unfortunately, the group left the convention before the next break.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

There are a number of FIRST alumni that have taken gap years for different reasons. I can think of a few who have worked as AmeriCorps VISTA's with FIRST partners in different regions of the country.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

Some people do take a gap year and that's perfectly okay. I know people from other teams as well as mine who pursue other opportunities such as church missions or the military.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I'm planning on taking a gap year after I graduate, and many of our team alumni have as well. I personally think it's just a good idea to focus on college life and the future instead of the FIRST team you graduated from. I still think volunteering at a nearby regional or something could be a good idea though, as it'd be a weekend commitment rather than a several month commitment.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I would recommend taking a year off before becoming a mentor unless the team you are mentoring has a well established student mentor program. When I started mentoring 1065 we already had several other high school students come back the next year but I would still have taken the year off in hindsight. Also consider how many hours your team would be meeting and what percent of meetings you would like to attend. Having gone from mentoring a team that meets 1 day a week to a team that meets 7 days a week the difference in workload is pretty significant and was definitely harder to do as a college student.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I am also a 2016 FIRST graduate, and I am considering waiting at least a few years before I start mentoring a Robotics Team. I am aiming for medical school, so I might not want to not take the risk of my grades and test scores slip due to mentoring. On the flip side, mentoring a Robotics Team might give me the edge I need on my résumé to edge out the other applicants. I am also majoring in biology, and I am not sure how useful that would be in regards to being a mentor. Anyone want to give their thoughts?

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

My problem with this is you're looking at mentoring for all the wrong reasons. You should want to mentor because it's extremely fulfilling and you find it $@#$@#$@#$@# near impossible to leave the community. I took a semi-year off from FIRST before stepping back into it, and I'm glad I did. It really helped me appreciate the program more. Mentoring will absolutely tank your grades at any competitively tough school with no inflation (i.e UC Berkeley) but I've been pretty blessed enough to have so many learning opportunities outside of academics that I'm pretty set in the employment department.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I'm a junior mentor on my high school robotics team. If your team doesn't have that title, I suggest getting it, as it has really helped me. On our team former students are junior mentors until everyone they went to high school with has graduated. It lets me still be friends with the students and yet technically be a mentor. I really like it!

Also, about the gap year. I rushed into college and went far away from home and hated it. So I came back and took a gap semester. If you're not sure you're ready for college, don't go. It'll just be a waste of money. Figure yourself out, figure out what you really want to do, then go. That's my two-cents.

Re: Gap Year FIRST Students
 

I thought I was going to take a gap year, but then I met the kids on 971. They are some of the hardest working students I've met, and it made it impossible to leave. So I recommend just being open to anything, and seeing how you can make a good contribution to their lives.