[Cory]

A lot of teams have rules like this and I can see why.

I think it would be awkward to return to the team you spent 4 years on in high school immediately, as a mentor. How are the students who you joked around with and were friends with going to respect you as an adult without any transition time between you being a student and a mentor? How will the adults? It would be very difficult to truly be a mentor, and not just an extension of your former role in the team.

That was part of my thought process after my first year of college (which I spent volunteering for FIRST instead of participating). I felt like I would be caught in between a student-mentor zone in which I would not be able to completely identify with/be accepted by either, until a few years had gone by and all the people I knew on the team as a student were gone.

I was only in my second year of college when I joined Team 254, but all the students respected me the same as any other adult, because I had no prior interactions with them which would cause them to view me as one of them, rather than a mentor.

Whatever you do, do not let FIRST consume you during college. I can tell you from experience that it's not healthy. It isn't much fun to be in college for 7 years because of all the time you invest into FIRST in place of school. FIRST and other activities will be around later-make sure you make completing your education your priority.