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Originally Posted by JaneYoung
Part of that might be the natural order of things, in a way. There are some threads in CD that have discussed mentoring and participating in FIRST while attending college and/or becoming established in a career. Discussions about pros and cons and decisions and exploring new options. If people are uninspired and bring negative attitudes to the program, to teams as mentors, and to events as volunteers - how does that help the program and the goals of the program? Inspiration goes both ways, especially after one graduates from high school. For those who have been students in FLL, FTC, or FRC - the transition to mentoring or participating in FIRST as an adult may be smooth or it may be difficult. Some of the reason could be the expectations that the graduate brings to the transition. That reason can also be applied to the changes in FIRST as it continues to grow, expand, develop, and mature. Wasn't FIRST in Michigan a pilot program last year? Next year will be its second year as a district program. What was learned in the pilot program will be applied this next season just as in FIRST where each season has brought more experience and knowledge to the development of the program.
Perhaps this is an area that has not been developed or looked at closely. How do young adults make the transition? What can help young adults who want to stay involved, make the transition? Do they only want the glamorous 'rock star' status or do they want to work and apply the skills and knowledge that they gain while volunteering and/or mentoring while going to school or establishing themselves in new careers? Is this area of development being addressed and does it need to be? These are some questions that don't need to be answered in this thread but they can provide food for thought.
Jane
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Just because a program is in it's first year, does not give it a right to be so problematic. "Michigan was just a pilot program" is no excuse, its like saying "he's just a kid" and we know that that doesn't hold up in a court of law, so why are we letting those kinds of phrases hold up now? Especially when even though it is a pilot, it has has had the experience of over 15 years? Yeah, I'll give you a few small things here and there, but the amount of emphasis put on it's pilot status for this organization is nonsense.
You know as much as the rest of us that the people who have dropped from FIRST for some reasons have dropped and the people who have stayed have stayed. From the tone of many people in my boat on this thread and my own personal history, we try our hearts out, we do what we can, and its not about college or about other things like that because we continue to mentor and spread a positive message, and will continue to do so with a smile on our faces [for the most part].
For me, what inspired me to a large degree was mentoring the FLL students at a local elementary school and seeing their eyes light up when they realized that engineering was all around them and they could be apart of it. I still see that light inside of me somewhere but its no where near as prominent due to the changes and attitudes of FIRST.
You ask about young adults making transitions and I can see that and can assure you that most of us don't do it for any "rockstar" status. I highly doubt the reason most people continue to be involved with FIRST is to be "popular". Of anything, some do it to build robots while in college, others do it to polish resumes, while others do it because they want to give back to something in which they've already received so much and for some its a mix and match among other reasons. But I refuse to believe that people like Arefin Bari decided to be mentors because one day they said "hey I wanna be a rockstar!" I don't just refuse that, but I can't even imagine someone thinking that.
EDIT:
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Originally Posted by Paul Copioli
Sean's point here right on. As a mentor for FIRST for 10 years I can honestly say that working with FIRST from a mentor's point of view has pretty much stayed the same. FIRST HQ's job is not to inspire, it's our job as a mentor. We need to shield the students on our respective teams from the political mine field that is FIRST (and any large corporation).
Remember, as a mentor, you are "they" and you are the reason the students come back. Do not think that you are supposed to be inspired by FIRST, but FIRST is to be inspired by you. FIRST is giving us the forum and it is our job to inspire.
I was never a student in FIRST, but pretty soon the majority of mentors will be former FIRST students (which will put me in the minority). I think that this year I may concentrate some of my WFA speeches at Regionals talking about how FIRST changes as you move from student to mentor as I fear Pavan Dave's sentiments are common among many former FRC students.
Anyway, remember that as mentors we have much more influence over the student experience than FIRST HQ does, hands down.
Paul
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People change with time. After responses of people more veteran than me, I understand where you are coming from as I only have almost 6 years under my belt but from the past few years, many major changes have taken place and I guess I'm a bit blind sighted as I am still in the transition from student to teacher so I don't doubt that in 10 years I might be saying the same as you but from my observations, my feelings, and mutual conversations with people in my situation I call it as I see it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Grady
I remember when I was a kid just out of high school about 12 years ago. I found this forum and saw that it was a wonderful place to share ideas about the game, building robots, teams and the methods they used to get through the season. It was an excellent place for a kid to really connect with other people and enjoy science and technology on a whole new level.
Today I look on this forum and I see alot of crap about behind the scenes politics and about how people are angry and miserable about this program. All things that were always very hidden to the eye of a student in my day. Back then, a student like me who was surfing this board enjoyed a sense of the magic that was a FIRST competition. Today a student surfing this board is saturated by the negative backdoor junk that they shouldn't even be subjected to.
Years ago I couldn't imagine FIRST without this board.
Today, I wonder if I should even promote this board to my kids at all.
Its a darn shame.
Maybe its time we should all get back to the basics...the joy of building something amazing with the people you care about.
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I understand because I feel some members of my team felt the same way when I joined these boards and voicing my opinions. But the reality is, if not now, when? If you post something completely stupid and one of your mentors chews you out, when will you learn? In the real world? I'd rather learn when my job is not on the line, where people are more understand, and where at the end of the day, regardless of our feelings, our end goal is the same, spreading robotics to inspire ... I can personally say that CD has had a major impact on my life in regards to what opinions you do voice because I had mentors that cared about my well being enough to scold me when necessary. Why deprive anyone of that experience? Also you get to see what's really going on and I was introduced to politics on a small scale. It, and being a key player of a robotics team helped me and prepared for the politics of life ahead, in college and beyond.... Why not start young? I'm VP of my fraternity because of my experiences in robotics.
Pavan Davé