Ok this is coming from a student who was hurt because he put FIRST before everything else.
DO NOT LET FIRST BECOME NUMBER 1 TO YOU!!!!
Believe me, my freshman year in college i decide to allow FIRST to become my #1 priority. However because i did this, I lost valuable studying time, and also missed some of my classes. Looking back I realized how large of a mistake it was. Because of this my GPA took a crash downwards (well it actually started down because of this).
Always put school before FIRST. Before going to meetings make sure you have what you need done for school (This is one of the largest reasons i believe schools should make students maintain a certain GPA to participate... because this could just as easily happen to a high school student and effect there college outcome)
And also make sure you have a social life. Fortunately I made many friends outside of FIRST, however if you are completely wrapped up in FIRST you will have no time for yourself. In order to stay sane through school and everything else that can happen in a person's life you have to have time to relax.
So take this as a warning for both high school students and college bound students. Take FIRST slowly, and set limits.
I hope no one gets burnt out.