Re: Deferring Exam to go to Atlanta?
 

I can certainly see the draw of skipping school to go to a FIRST competition. I almost did this for the Boilermaker Regional. However, then I got to thinking that my being a mentor is about more then helping them when they ask. It is also about being a role model. What you do should depend on what kind of message you want to get acrossed to your team. The message I decided to present was this. "School always comes first. No matter what, do the work and then have the fun." I missed 1 day of the regional for classes. Got a ride there for 1 day. And missed the finals due to lack of a ride. I think I could have helped my team more with the competition by being there all three days. However by setting the example I did, I believe that I helped my team out more with life.

The main thing is: What message do you want to get acrossed to your team? Maybe your message is: Put the team above all else. Maybe it is like mine: Put school before all else. Maybe it is something completely different. I don't know.

Just a note to all mentors: Take your role seriously and mean everything you do. The students are watching and they are learning.

Sorry to all for the long post, I just had something I wanted to say.