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Originally Posted by Andy Baker
These people are not only folks that are mentoring FIRST teams you will be competing with during the upcoming year, but they also may be looking to hire people within the next 5 years. I suggest not ticking them off.
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To add to Andy's comment. I graduated in May from the University of Maryland at College Park with my degree in Electrical Engineering. I got hired by someone (THANKS CHIP!) who was impressed with my work with a FIRST team as an E-mentor. I wasn't expecting him to offer me a job, but I'm sure glad he did! Of all the jobs I was looking at, this is the most technically challenging job that was available.
Mentors provide a great deal more than the tools and knowledge of building a robot.
Transferable Skills like networking, teamwork, project management, and problem solving are just a few. Competitions are also a great place to practice these skills with mentors there to help and teach. I wouldn't be where I am without a number of very good mentors while in high school and then having them teach me how to mentor while in college.
Sorry this is slightly off topic, but this is what I personally feel are the real benefits of having mentors. There are many competitive student-created bots out there. I feel that mentors really bring the transferable skills to the table. Those are the skills that no matter what kind of job, relationships or anything else will help you through your life.
Happy New Year!
Steve