Quote:
Originally Posted by fuzzy1718
Mentors let me her wha the students have to say I don't care of your opionions, your not the focus of FIRST, your students are.
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Josh, other mentors who have replied to your comments have been very nice about the topic and tried to make you understand, but I am going to be very blunt. I have never imagined that I would hear this phrase from any student in my involvement of FIRST. You bring up valid points in your posts but this sentence just threw me off. I am very insulted and I have no pity for you or your team for that matter. The interest I would have to walk into your pit and check your robot and team out has been demolished by your comment. I hope one of your mentors/teachers check your posts out in this thread and help you understand where all the other mentors are coming from.
Now about your concerns, The teams that feel that they aren't doing "too well," and "not getting picked;" ask them to build a robot that will be dominant on the field. I am sure they will get picked.
Teams who are low on funding should look up to veteran powerhouses who travel to quite a few regionals every year and
earn their golds. The reason they are able to accomplish such things is because of their sponsors, mentors, parents and their students who spend countless hours making their team what they are. They don't only strive for new corporate sponsors, they know how to keep their relationship with them.
If you ever get a chance, stick around with a "veteran powerhouse" for a regional competition and see how they function throughout the event. I am very sure that your opinion on many things will change.
Below are two things I would like to share with you.
There has been one mentor who has been posting in this thread. Their robot is gorgeous and it's functionality blew everyones' mind away this past season. I have spoken to him throughout the build season and I know that he spent at least 10 hours everyday in the machine shop with his students machining parts for the robot. Without him, the team probably wouldn't perform as well as they did. It's the mentors who show you the right path and show you the path of solution when you are stuck.
Last week, I was up in NJ at the J&J headquarter with all the FIRST teams that are sponsored by J&J. There were teams from Brazil and Puerto Rico who attended this 6 hours event to show their appreciation to all their mentors and their sponsor. During that event, I was talking to a team leader (student) of a local team from Florida. He is great and a smart kid. He wants his team to be a student ran team. I had a conversation with him about how mentors can help him. At first, he was hesitating on mentors helping with the robot or the team for that matter, but after an explanation of how students and mentors can work together to build a dominating machine; he put his hand out to shake my hand and invited me to join his team and asked me to find him local mentors who would be able to help them.
You are nothing without a mentor/teacher. I thought I knew everything when I was a sophomore in high school and I thought I could design a better gearbox and a robot than the mentors could. Heck, half the designs I have done were revised by some of the mentors who posted in this thread. There have been times when I got mad because my mentors didn't listen to me. As I grew up, I saw where they were coming from and how right they were. I wouldn't be able to be a mentor if I didn't idolize them and follow certain things that they have done.