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Re: Generation gaps
I personally have never appreciated adults speaking down to me in any way, and I've become used to, erm..."teaching" condescenders why they shouldn't be condescending with me. However, that's never been an issue on our team, at least for me. We don't have any college mentors yet (we will next season, one of our new alumni), but all the adults treat us pretty well like equals. Sometimes they may forget and treat some of the less experienced students a little more like children, but usually they don't, which is something I appreciate in our mentors.
I like what Heidi said about adults being used to having the role of authority figure, because I've seen that phenomenon happening. The only time I've ever had an issue with that in relation to FIRST would be a (very) few adult coaches I've worked with. It's not that they know less or more than I do, but that they refuse to even consider what I have to say and, by extension, discount what my team can do. I honestly do not think any adult coach would do this on purpose, but it makes sense they would take over by habit if they don't make an effort not to.
FIRST can build great relationships not only between people of the same age but between students and mentors. How can the mentors inspire if they don't have a good relationship with the students?
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Proud alum of FRC Team 1629 and mentor of FRC Team 639
Cornell Engineering class of 2012!!
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