Thread: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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Unread 01-05-2006, 19:36
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Mikell Taylor Mikell Taylor is offline
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
I repeat: I have had conversations with both Woodie and Dean, personally, where they ask me (I'm about to finish college) how they can change FIRST to get more college students involved as mentors. I would be careful assuming what FIRST "intends" for teams.

Also, as a former student mentored by college students, I found that, compared to the teams I met at competition who were mentored by professional engineers, we had more chance to actually do the work on the robot. They also were less able to say "Well, we know this is bad, because of 20 years of experience, blah blah blah..." Sure, we messed up more, but I think we learned so much from it that it's worth it.

I would not presume to assert that one FIRST experience is better than the next. There exist successful teams without *any* mentors. And for that matter, "successful" is entirely relative. FIRST intends for students to be inspired -- that's what the acronym means. I was inspired by my college mentors. The mentorship fulfilled its purpose. What more do you want?
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Mikell Taylor
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Mentor to team 5592, Far North Robotics

Back in the day:
President, Boston Regional Planning Committee
Mentor, team 2124
Captain, team 677
Last edited by Mikell Taylor : 01-05-2006 at 19:42.
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