[patrickrd]

A lot of excellent points in this thread. However, I hesitate to tell everyone not to try and start a team or be involved with a team in college. Had I not started a team as a Freshman in college, there is no way I would be where I am today. That experience taught me a lot at many different levels and provided me with even more opportunities later in college and into the working world.

However!
- Put learning first. Make sure you maintain an above average GPA and understand what you are learning and why you are learning it (the second part is equally important). If you are doing FIRST and it is getting in the way of your learning or your health (e.g. no sleep or too much stress), take a break.
- Make sure you're doing it for the right reason. I don't need to tell anyone here what the purpose of FIRST is, but it is easy to forget that you are a mentor. Every now and then I see a college-based team full of college students giddy about building a robot and having the best drive system, while the high school students are hardly involved at all. Remember: if there is not one or more high school students by your side and actively contributing, then you are not being a mentor. I have seen some great college student mentors, but it is rare. More often than not, it seems college students still act like they are in high school when they are involved with first. It took me some time to learn this myself and I was probably far too "hands on" during certain periods of time.
- If you are going to start a team, starting a team has to be your dream and you absolutely need to be convinced that it is what you want. Are you "eating, sleeping, dreaming with that one thing on your mind?" If not, then starting a team is probably not for you. If you do decide to start a team, remember, it is a TEAM. Concentrate on finding the right people to comprise your team, get them excited, and let the team take it's own shape. Remember, your only at college for four years, you're paying a lot to go there, and there is an awful lot college has to offer. It is a horrible mistake to be so caught up in FIRST that four years of college pass you by before you realize the world outside of FIRST. Nothing made me happier than to see the team I had started grow and flourish during my last two years at college, while I had reduced my involvement in the team to 3-4 hours per week.


In summary:
- Don't start a team, unless you are sure it's what you want to do, and you can keep an eye on yourself. If it's hurting classes or your college experience, it's time to stop and hand off the efforts to someone else. Remember, nobody will want to hire you if you have a bad GPA. If you maintain a GPA well above average, you will probably have no trouble finding a job. If on top of that you can have FIRST experience or other project experience, you will be in very good shape. A bad GPA and a lot of experience will absolutely not get you your dream job and will not get you into grad school.
- If you are going to be a mentor, same advice applies, but make sure you're being a mentor and not a high school student.