Quote:
Originally Posted by Littlepchan
So here's the question:
What are you Mentor Experiences, either as a mentor or as a student?
and/or
Based on your experiences, what would you like to see in a mentor?
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Cool thread!
I was an FRC student for 2 years in high school, and started mentoring my Freshman year of college. 2016 was my 10th season as a mentor.
I think the single biggest thing I've learned is that different teams utilize different styles of mentors. Finding your "mentoring style" may take some time, and several teams. I started as a mentor on 190 Gompei and the HERD, remotely mentored my high school team 971 Spartan Robotics, then joined Skunk Works 1983 for two seasons before my wife and I started a rookie team this season. All of those teams are very different in their team structure, team makeup and team goals, and how mentors are expected and encouraged to contribute are influenced by that. If you join a team as a mentor and don't feel like you fit, don't be discouraged. Stay a bit, learn what you can and then try something else another year. There are teams out there for every style. In my opinion, the more different experiences you can get as a mentor, the better mentor you will become.
Below is some of my personal experiences mentoring, hopefully it helps you. I am a technical mentor, primarily strategy and robot design.
The single biggest tool a mentor has is communication. Build personal relationships with your students. Get to know them personally, find out what they're struggling with, what their passions and aspirations are. Build rapport and build mutual respect. It is very hard to be an effective mentor if you don't have the respect of your students, and it's very hard to earn the respect of students if you don't respect them. It sounds obvious but it's not easy. They will have good ideas and bad ideas, and so will you.
As you gain mentor experience through multiple seasons, the age difference will become more pronounced. Never forget that they're still high school students. They will still goof off (they need to, and so do you!), and they will still make mistakes, some of which will seem stupid and obvious to you. You MUST allow students to make their own mistakes. I have found one of the most successful mentoring "tools" is to suggest a students try something in a particular way. If they choose to follow your suggestion, great. If they choose an alternate method (say a different machining technique) that's OK too. If they decide to switch to your method and it works better, they will respect your idea more without you having forced it on them. You never want a student to resent doing something because they weren't allowed to do it their way (unless their way is unsafe, in which case don't let them). Understand that you will make mistakes too. Apologize for them if you realize it.
I try to have discussions with other mentors while students are around, if the subject is relevant and appropriate. If I'm working on a design problem with a student, I will often call over another mentor to bounce an idea off of. The student may or may not have enough experience to contribute to that discussion/decision, but they will hear, absorb and retain it. They will also appreciate that you don't have the magic right answers, but that the process of engineering involves many people with experience providing opinions and double checking each other.
Three final thoughts: Firstly, mentors can have mentors too. I have many people in FIRST whom I look up to for their skills as a mentor, and have learned from.
Secondly, you can always learn from your students. They will blow you away with creativity, enthusiasm and often maturity beyond their years. We can always keep learning new things, it doesn't matter from whom.
Last but not least, my personal golden rule of mentoring:
Be passionate about what you do, and let it show. Passion for FIRST is infectious. Students will work much harder on a problem and care more about it if they feel like it is a priority to you and the team. It's OK to get into heated discussions as long as it remains respectful. It's OK to be disappointed with a poor performance, or be frustrated by something not working right. It's ok to lose your voice screaming because you won a tough match that looked hopeless, and have your voice still be gone 3 days after Championships
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