Our last meeting before our first regional, while we were packing up, the students on my subteam came up to me, all wearing these:
They gave me this:
They said it is now part of my uniform, and I have to wear it to all our competitions this year.
That's why I'm in FIRST.
This is my second year as a mentor, and the funny thing is, I thought I became a mentor because robotics has been my passion for years. Come to find out, I've become even more passionate about helping "my" kids grow into their fullest potential. I try my best to see them not as just high school kids, but as future colleagues. As someone told me once: The way you see them is how you treat them, and how you treat them is what they often become.