[KenWittlief]

I get the sense that some college students feel they owe something to their HS FIRST team, or to FIRST in general, and that they have to give something back.

So much energy and life-force has been focused on giving you the opportunity to attend college. I cannot over emphasize giving you. You cannot possibly know the sacrifices that people make to support our university system, the personal sacrifices your parents and loved-ones make, and even the people who served as mentors to inspire you to go to college.

This is the one time in your life to put your own interests first, to be a little self-ish, and to get everything you can out of those 4 or 5 years.

College is all about you! You should not feel guilty about that, because in the big picture what is best for you now is best for society in the long run. If you co-op with an important company and end up working for them, if you start your own business while you are in school, if you do very well and are sponsored by a professor to stay on and get your masters or doctorate degree - the more energy you focus on your own career in college the better you will do in the end.

And then when you want to give something back to FIRST, or to your community, or to humanity in general, the more you have achieved the more you will have to give back.

As others have said, there are many FIRST related things you can volunteer for while you are in college, helping out with regionals, tasks that will only take a few days of your time, without committing yourself to 20 hours a week for 8 weeks as a team mentor.