Transitioning From Student to Mentor

[ASmith1675]

I've never been a student on a FIRST team, but have mentored both during my college years and now in to my post college years. Both of the teams which I have mentored (677 and 1675), have had students that immediately turned around and became mentors on these same teams. I understand the appeal in trying to give back to the same organization which you were a part of, and in some cases this will work. However, I think it is a much better idea to join a new team if you are looking to continue with FIRST (which, of course, is what most of us mentors hopes).

There are several reasons I feel this way, some based on personal observations, and some generalized thoughts. First, it seems that if a student continues on as a mentor with their original team it takes them longer to come to terms with their new role. You will still likely have friends on the team, and even though you have graduated it is easy to fall back in to the "student" mindset when this is the case. Secondly, it can show you how other teams work. Even joining my second team as a mentor showed me how differently all teams work. Each team has a different dynamic, and different challenges. Its possible that a previous team you worked with has a solution to the problems your new team is facing.

This year we were privileged to have two former students of two (relatively) near-by teams join our organization as mentors. Having never worked closely with our team before this season (other than friendly banter at regionals/off season events), they jumped right in to their roles as mentors with little to no hesitation. It is possible that these new mentors just had the correct mental make-up to make this transition easier, but I believe separating themselves from their original teams helped this transition as well. I am NOT saying cut all contact with your former team (both of these members are still in very close contact with their former teams), but just find another organization to mentor.

That rambled a lot more than I intended.