Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor

[Bethie42]

I found this thread a year or two ago and really appreciate the advice contained within. I'll be majoring in comp. sci. at a college halfway across the country [LeTourneau U] starting in August and am considering what steps I should take to stay involved with FIRST. FIRST will be in my life no matter what, I just have to decide how and how much.

I'm planning to lay low my first year but am still hoping to keep in touch with my team back in Oregon, help out where I can with organization and so on, mostly in the off-season. You know, the occasional email: 'How's the NASA grant application going? Is recruitment up? Time to book hotels for regionals!' and so on.

I know this could change when I actually get to college and am floundering in coursework, but I have a dream. Longview is a town of ~70 k people, with several public and private high schools, yet there are no FIRST teams in the area. I envision students from LeTourneau [an engineering and aviation college] working as junior mentors to a team based at Longview High School, funded by one of the several manufacturing and technology corporations in Longview, and under the wing of LeTourneau faculty.

I know this is a far-fetched dream, but I have seen so many amazing things happen with FIRST that I think it's possible. Last night I contacted all the STEM teachers at the high school, mentioning the idea and asking what their input it. So far one has responded with interest, and said [to my excitement] that the school had done VEX in the past.
I'm concerned that the team be well planned, starting at least a year in advance [guess I should head over to the new-team forum to ask if this is long enough], and that the team not be so dependent on any group of LeTourneau students that it folds when a class graduates.

I particularly appreciated Eric's comment about mentoring in the off-season being a better plan than doing so in build season.

People who know me say that if anyone can mentor a team in college, I can.
This year I started seven FLL teams in my town and mentored two of them. Coaching those FLL kids was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, if stressful at times. I think this bodes well for my future as an FRC mentor, although I know the difference between starting an FLL and and FRC team is exponential.

My biggest asset to my FRC team has not been technical, even though I was lead programmer this year and loved it; it's leadership, organization and ENTHUSIASM. I'm so far from being burned out on FIRST, it's not even funny, but I think a year off to regroup and plan further schemes to conquer the world through FIRST is a good idea.

Thank you all for your advice.