Quote:
Originally Posted by michael5402
One of our biggest problems this year is our mentors not wanting to stay and letting us work on the robot. We have had several times where we asked them to stay later and we are told we are done when they want to go home. We only have three mentors and two of them rotate days to watch us. We have all so had days where we did not have school, not weather related, and we asked them to come in and they wouldn't. We currently have the robot in the bag not completed that we bagged around 6 o'clock yesterday because they did not want to stay later. Several people on our team feel like they are there to just baby sit us. Any time we have tried to talk to them it seems like the response always is you will do what I say and usually is in a raised tone of voice.
I was just wondering if any other teams have had problems with there mentors and them wanting to stay. I know it is hard on three of them but they knew what they signed up for.
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A few comments:
1. You talk about mentors and not being able to build if they are not present. You do not mention a teacher/school personnel being present. Many school districts will not allow people on campus without a teacher/school personnel there for liability reasons.
2. You say that "they knew what they signed up for." That is correct, but do YOU know what THEY signed up for? The team's expectations are clearly different from the mentors' expectations. This requires level setting.
3. From the perspective of a mentor who is single:
- I do not have anyone to help me around my apartment with cleaning, dishes, laundry, cooking, etc. This has been sacrificed for the last 6 weeks.
I do not have anyone to go home to, so any chance of working on a social life is sacrificed for 6 weeks.
I do not have extra time to go to fun classes, like cooking, on weekends because of the time sacrifices I have made for the last 6 weeks for my team, plus competition weekends.
I do not have a cat that understands why she doesn't get fed between 4:30 and 6pm everyday because of the sacrifices I have made for the last 6 weeks.
I have not always gotten decent parking at my apartment complex due to a lack of assigned space due to the sacrifices I have made for the last 6 weeks.
I have gotten to work late or worked fewer than 8 hours a day due to the sacrifices I have made for the last 6 weeks.
I have NOT gotten the required amount of sleep I require because of the sacrifices I have made for the last 6 weeks. This affects my emotional well being, as well as my physical well being.
Note that the above list is by MY OWN CHOICE. I could have gone in and worked with my team for 1 hour a week, and they would have been grateful for that time. That is not MY expectation of working with a team.
The ONLY thing I would change about my team at this time is getting them to write everything down on paper instead of taking photos of white boards or doing calculations using Google. When something goes wrong, there's no way to figure it out if it's not in writing. There are also issues if someone isn't present and is the only person that knows what is happening.
On the flip side, I have gotten to watch one student find that she LOVES to tap threads into metal as it's rather relaxing. I have also gotten to watch when lightbulbs go on over other students' heads. THIS is a big reason why I volunteer, to watch the students grow and gain knowledge, either educational or personal.