Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur
#4 -- This is a tough one. FIRST is about inspiration, not the robot. Sometimes difficult decisions must be made. Is it more inspiring to let them struggle on the last weekend, hoping to get a device to work, or is it more inspiring to jump in and "fix it" so that it's working at the competition. Sometimes the pressure of trying to get something to work means you don't have the time to fully explain what you are doing at that time.
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This is side of FIRST and FRC that I, as a student, take issue with. To me, competing in FRC wouldn't be nearly as rewarding if our mentors stepped in to fix all of our problems at the very end. Mentors should be there to guide the students and to help them refine and iterate over their designs.
My team has a very relaxed view on mentoring. In general, the less the mentors help us with the robot, the better. It's always helpful to hear their insight on our ideas, but we really strive to make our robot as student-built as possible. Of course, we don't always have the best robot at competition, which leads me to my next point.
When mentors "step in" to fix their team's robot, I really think they should consider what this does to the teams that don't have their mentors complete (or, in some cases, build) their robots. FIRST is for the INSPIRATION of science and technology, right? How inspiring is it when high school students are left to compete with a robot built by a team of actual engineers?