[Karibou]

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Now, I've graduated, and another build season is almost here. Next year, I will likely not be doing FRC - at least, not with these teams, since I will be in grad school and won't be here.

Originally Posted by Oblarg

I suppose what I want to ask, after all of that, is how one decides what a healthy amount of involvement is and how one feasibly sticks to such a limit. I do not want to repeat the mental and physical toll of my last two years of mentoring. I also do not want to stop entirely, because I love FRC and care a lot about the teams that I mentor.

I'll echo what several others have said in this thread - you might want to consider not mentoring a team while you're in grad school. You won't be around the teams you've been with for the past few years, so this is probably going to be the easiest time to take a break and not commit to another team. Grad school is tough and has more stringent requirements, and the amount of time it consumes can be variable and hard to predict in advance, depending on classes, research/labwork (if that's a component of your program), and papers. Not great for build season. It's different for everyone, but it's still probably going to be more difficult to manage with a mentoring schedule thrown into the loop too. (disclaimer: I've never done grad school, but I've seen a lot of friends go through it and struggle with the stress, even after they're dropped any extra-curriculars)

But, that wouldn't mean you have to stop doing FRC. Volunteer! It's not the same as mentoring, but it's less of a time commitment, you still get to see competitions, it's still rewarding, and you'll still be involved.