[EricH]

There are some threads on this topic already, but it is a very good one to bring up. Mostly, the past threads have been from students wanting to mentor in college.

There are really three points of view at work here, and three different pieces of advice. One is for the college students, one is for the mentors, and one is for the current students. I've put my advice at the end of this post, so if you want to skip the reasoning, go ahead and scroll down.

First, the college students need to stop and reevaluate their position. What is their course load like? Is it light, heavy, or in the middle? How are their grades doing? Why do they really want to return? Quite frankly, schoolwork should come first. You don't go to college to participate in robotics, do you? I thought not.

Next, the mentors. I'm going to tell a little story that I think explains why they don't want college students.

About two summers ago, I worked at a Scout camp for the summer. The camp had a rule: No staff member can go on trail with his troop. One staff member was able to, however. I asked about that, and was told that "The reason that you can't go on trail with your own troop is that the Scoutmasters might not listen when they need to, and the Scouts won't either. The Scoutmasters may see you as a Scout still, without the experience needed to lead, and the Scouts could easily see you as one of their own. The reason that [the other staff member] can go with his unit is that he's already a Scoutmaster in that troop." [/paraphrase]

The above statement sums up what is probably going on. Sure, college students do know more than high school students, and teams have had college mentors that graduated from the team, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good thing. The mentors may be afraid of division within the team.

Finally, the current students need to think as well. Why do they want the college students back? Is it because they are friends, or can the college students provide some piece of the robotics puzzle that the mentors can't for some reason?

Now, the advice: The college students should examine why they want to return. Possibly, they should find a different team in the same area. However, schoolwork comes first. The current students should try to understand the mentors' point of view. And the mentors should take a look at each college student individually, to see if they are mature/respected enough to return, or if they should join another team.