Quote:
Originally posted by Melancholy
Going to a college still near my high school, I had planned on being an alumni on my old team. This didn't work though because of some disagreements between the students of what I should be doing. I still love my old team very very much, but I just don't quite fit there anymore. ...but I still missed FIRST throughout the entire building period. Anyone have suggestions for me?
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I had to respond to this one. I am not an alumna of a FIRST team, but I got involved through one of my professors during the 2001 season. In the past year, I was moved from "Mentor" status to Asst. Coach of two teams, the one I was originally with and a new one that the prof's daughter is now on. At any rate, enough history.
This season has proven a great challenge to me. There was a huge influx of new students (the team has around 48 students), many of whom are learning how to deal with other people, as well as designing and building a machine. The real problem for me, however, was the ongoing conflict between myself and one student in particular. I was initially asked to head up the Drive System, as I did last year, but I quickly realized that if I stayed on it, nothing would get accomplished. Therefore, I bowed out of that system. (I was then asked to be on another subsystem, but a professional engineer came that day, and I again realized that I would hinder things if I stuck with that group.)
So, where did that leave me? It left me here: Team Historian, Photographer (non-digital by my choice), and general assistant to the high school coach and prof. I was not very happy with this because, like many of you, I wanted to get involved in designing and building the robot. After all, I am an engineering student at a university.
But, more and more, I am realizing that these jobs needed to be done. Whether it was to give the coaches some sanity or just document what the team has done, these jobs provided the team with a service that I can continue with next year, along with helping on a particular subsystem.
My point (and i think I have one
) is that there are MANY jobs that need to be done on a team. An alumna should be able to help out and get some sort of satisfaction from helping in an administrative position and acting as a resource for the team, as well as working on the design and building of the robot. Basically, DON'T THINK that the design and building of the robot is the ONLY thing worth being around for.
I gutted out this year and will continue with both teams next year (even if I have to sacrifice some school time). From this year, I can only hope that I have learned some lessons in dealing with others that I know I wouldn't have learned in a classroom. For next year, I hope that I can continue to learn and grow, both in engineering and in dealing with human interactions.
In the meantime, I will travel to the SoCal and National Competitions and cheer for a robot that I had no hand in designing or building, other than to get some of the raw materials.
Sorry for the long post, but I just had to put my two-cents in.
indieFan
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