Go to Post When our arm "spontaneously combusted in the middle of the field", your team was the first to offer assistance to help fix it. - KTorak [more]
Home
Go Back   Chief Delphi > FIRST > General Forum
CD-Media   CD-Spy  
portal register members calendar search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read FAQ rules

 
View Poll Results: Are you Fed up With your Alumni FIRST Experience
Yes, if so plz post and share 4 20.00%
No, if so plz post and share 16 80.00%
Voters: 20. You may not vote on this poll

 
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
  #5   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 19-03-2003, 09:55
SuperJake's Avatar
SuperJake SuperJake is offline
No Problem!
AKA: Jake Classic
FRC #0061 (The Shifters)
Team Role: Leadership
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Rookie Year: 2000
Location: Milford, MA
Posts: 277
SuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud ofSuperJake has much to be proud of
Send a message via AIM to SuperJake
FIRST is about learning and passing on that knowledge you have learned to others. I have been with the Miracle Workerz (Team 365) since their beginning in 2000. I was a student for two years and an alumni for two years (including this year). As as student, I remember being amazed that there are people in the world that give up so much of their time to help me, an annoying high school student about what they do full time. I thought a job was something that you had to do to get money so you could do things you wanted to do. FIRST helped me see that there is not only a job, but a career out there that is for me. Something that I would want to do because I enjoyed it. And that I would enjoy this career so much that I would be willing to help high school students follow in my footsteps.

Now that I am an alumni, I am beginning to see my dreams become a reality. The rookie students look up to me as a mentor, and the students that know me still think I'm that crazy high schooler. FIRST is something that I love doing. Not just taking time from engineers or teachers to advance myself, but also by giving my time and knowledge to the next generation of roboteers. I am now partially responsible for the way 34 students look at the world of science and engineering.

Of course the transition from student to alumni/mentor hasn't been exactly flawless, but a jump like that in such a tightly woven group is sure to have its rough spots. Some of the engineers still see me as being just another punk high school kid, only bringing up my mentor status when I have done something stupid (yeah.. we all do stupid things) and am supposed to be a role model for the students. But from that I have learned to take responsibility for my actions even if they aren't completely my fault. This year I have been entrusted with being the coach for our competition team. I guess they think that because I was driver in 2001 that I have some sort of super sense about the competition. That has yet to be seen, but it is looking good so far.

Being an alumni in FIRST is not a free ride. You have to prove to your mentors and the students that you have what it takes to be a good mentor. And you have to prove that you are responsible enough to be entrusted with major tasks concerning your team. After you have accomplished that, the rewards are unlimited. I still can't get over it when students look to me for answers. Students look to me to make a difference. It is the best feeling in the world, and I won't give it up for anything... unless I got to drive the robot again!

I apologize for the length, but I feel better now.
__________________
Never send a person to do a robot's job.
Robots excel at Dull, Dirty, and Dangerous jobs.


Reply With Quote
 


Thread Tools
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
When do you become an alumni? A. Leese General Forum 22 24-05-2003 14:54
What is the role for team alumni? Wayne C. General Forum 34 27-03-2003 23:59
alumni Robocardgrl5 Chit-Chat 1 22-03-2003 19:25
Anyone famous come from your town MattK Chit-Chat 64 17-02-2003 14:20
A Call to ALL Purdue Alumni archiver 2000 7 23-06-2002 22:35


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 21:33.

The Chief Delphi Forums are sponsored by Innovation First International, Inc.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Chief Delphi