[Jon Stratis]

While I personally think it's a good idea to take a year off when you start college (gives you a chance to figure college life out and helps to create a real break mentally between being a student and being a mentor), although even in a year off I still encourage taking a weekend to volunteer for an event! If you do want to keep mentoring, it's really all about being proactive with your scheduling.

Start by talking with your professors. Explain the program to them, and ask them about expected class load Jan-Apr, as well as expected test dates. Figure out when you can expect to devote time to the team, and when you can expect to devote time to your own educational obligations. Find out if the professors are flexible enough for you to miss classes for events, or handle tests at other times if they happen to fall during events. Then make up a rough schedule to share with the team leadership so they know what to expect... and then let them know when things change, as early as possible! Having a high level of communication surrounding your availability and scheduling is absolutely critical, and something many younger individuals struggle with. If you have to err, err on the side of over-communicating and let them tell you when it's too much!

As a student, it's not really that big of a deal if you have to take an unexpected night off for homework or to study. Sure, things don't get done as quickly, but the team continues. As a mentor, it can be a very big deal. It can be the difference between a team meeting or not (for example, my team has a 2-mentor rule - if we don't have at least 2 mentors present, the team isn't meeting, period). It can be the difference between having enough experienced eyes to ensure machines are running safely, or having to lock down machines and run fewer at one time. Having a mentor unexpectedly not show up for a meeting forces everyone else to scramble to cover the gap. Even when a mentor has a scheduled night-off, it can be difficult, and I find myself always making sure things are set up and work is planned out ahead of any planned off-nights I have.