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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
Mentoring in college I think we can all agree is a decision not to be taken lightly, and I agree that the very cautious advice primarily being giving in this thread is wise. Even if you can handle mentoring as a freshman(or even senior), taking a break will probably be in the long run just as rewarding.
Starting and running a team in college has been very difficult but very rewarding for me, and in hindsight I'm pretty glad it took me two years to get the support inline after I got to school. I hesitate to discuss my grades and I only mention this to establish the level of negative effect on my classes and give a data point to potential college mentors. While my grades could have been higher I graduated (BSEE) with several honors and was offered a full fellowship for graduate school. It can be done but you have to be really dedicated and willing to accept some compromises in your life, generally good advice for anything you really want to do anyway.
Every team, school, and student is different, but at Texas Tech University FIRST is run entirely by college students (and some professors) like mini baja, cement canoe, etc. only we actually get stuff done, accept freshmen, create a strong interdisciplinary team and offer course credit or scholarships to many mentors. We also offer the "full college experience"... We build way late into the night on campus, have a couch for sleeping, and have some pretty crazy "mentor only" parties.
We like freshmen to come and help out when they can, but typically no more that 10-15 hours/week during build. The time commitment and focus on classes is easier to enforce on a non-FIRST graduate which is why I asked the original question. We look at FIRST as a great college retention and recruiting tool. By keeping freshman involved with other upperclassmen and graduate students they can build a support structure during the sometimes rocky transition to college. We all can help each other with projects, and even have team study breaks during the build season.
I have done a number of industry co-ops and as part of my degree program survived 5 design labs plus several design classes and I'm still sure that what I've learned through running a FIRST program exceeds the vast majority of that, maybe even combined. A lot of awesome job opportunities and wonderful people have come into my life in college because of my (cult?) interest in the program. It's not for everyone, but it can really work for some people.
All this being said I agree it is very important at point you decide to become a mentor to be doing it for the right reasons and with the right priorities in your life, not to relive HS, but to be looking for that next level of experience while being committed to getting the grades you need.
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