[prettycolors91]

I strongly believe that personal investment is how you can get students to really care about what goes on at competition. When you pour your heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into your team (whether it be through programming, design, fabrication, documentation, PR, scouting....), you want to see it through to fruition.

By making sure that students are as involved as possible creates an incentive to participate later on. A robot that was fabricated FOR the students will have a different impact than a robot that was fabricated BY the students. Sure, the robot built/designed by mentors is really shiny and performs fantastically, but students might become disillusioned by the program and goof off instead of working at competitions. Not that there is anything wrong with shiny and effective machines (that is one of the points of this program, is it not?).

It's disheartening to see students that don't care, but I feel like it is a failing of the team structure (not necessarily yours, but in general). I feel successful as a mentor when I can accompany my students to a competition, step back, and watch them run the show. We are there to guide, offer firm "no's" when necessary, and make sure responsible decisions are made. Past that, it's THEIR robot and THEIR team. Watching their faces light up when they fix a problem, or drive it for the first time is the best feeling in the entire world.

I think this might be an issue that you want to take up personally with your team. I know its satisfying to post issues on here, but keep in mind that everybody can read what you post, including your team mates and mentors.