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Originally Posted by eagle33199
It doesn't have to be an either/or thing in college. Having FIRST actively involved on campus every year will create even more interaction with the professional societies. A college FIRST program would jump at the chance to work with all of the other engineering societies on campus to promote and celebrate eWeek, for example.
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I'm not against the idea. I just don't think it has a lot to do with the topic of sustainability.
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If we could get just 10% of current FIRST students to give 4 years of mentoring after college,...
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I don't see how extending the "student competition" model past high school would lead to that happening. Forming teams to solve technical challenges is intended to expose students to the excitement and satisfaction of real-world science and engineering. That's not necessary for college students who have (mostly) already chosen their path. If we want to increase the availability of mentors, we need to expose them to the excitement and satisfaction of
mentoring.
It seems to me that an emphasis instead on more volunteering might be better. College students who haven't yet gained the experience (and occasionally the social maturity) to be effective mentors will still be able to help regional/district competitions happen smoothly, and in an intermediate position between student and mentor they can get a more appropriate perspective on what good mentoring entails. Rather than giving them a technical problem to solve and the technical resources to help them solve it, give them a
people problem and the
social resources to help them meet the needs of the organization. Form a "FIRST Volunteer Corps" and make training available. Hold seminars on Tribal Leadership or something.