[AcesJames]

It seems like this thread has a lot of responses from teachers and adult mentors, rather than high school students themselves.

I'm going to offer the prospective of a first year college mentor instead.


FRC in High School -
I'll be the first to admit that in high school, I really, really, really didn't care about grades because unlike most, I only saw them as a number or a letter. However, I cared deeply about learning. As such, I went to every class, on time, every day. I didn't take notes because I found it much more interesting to actually listen to what teachers had to say. I also didn't study for tests or quizzes, because I simply didn't feel like it. I always did my homework though, because as I said, I enjoyed learning. I ended high school with Honors and a 3.25 GPA. I was satisfied, because I knew I had a good grasp of everything I learned, and if I had really cared about getting a 4.0, I could have done it. As I said, I was more concerned with actually learning than just getting good grades. Because of this mentality I had, FIRST had no impact on my grades. Because I spent no time studying, FRC occupied my free time, and didn't interfere with anything else.


FRC in College -
Currently I'm finishing up my freshman year at Clarkson University. I must admit, college is very different from high school. I've found out that college level classes are difficult, and I actually have to study if I want to pass. Homework is difficult, exams are terrifying, and lectures are boring. It's not a good combination, but I'm doing just as well as I was in high school, because I've learned to adapt. However, learning how to adjust to mentoring an FRC team while learning how to adjust to college was an extreme curve for me. It was hard, but it was worth it. Of course, because of the fact that I now have to study, FRC is actually beginning to interfere with school. Regional and championship travel, coupled with long nights in the shop have strained myself and many of 229's other mentors. There are evenings where we frequently skip team meetings altogether because we have exams at the same time. It isn't easy.