The 6 Week Build Season and 'Mentor Burnout'

[Gdeaver]

286 Posts and still going. I've held back posting till now. Burnout is something we individually and the teams collectively do to our selves. We make the CHOICE to over burden ourselves and the team. First only provides the medium for us to do it. The First program tends to draw hard charging driven mentors. They tend to be highly intelligent self motivated successful people. They are the people that solve the problems for their company and society. The problem is many of us could be labeled as obsessive and compulsive. We have to beat the game and will drive our selves crazy in the quest. We also get real foul if the game beats us. Hundreds of negative posts on several topics since the competition end. We also hate limits. We revile at rules and artificial restrictions. We want to beat the game any way we can. When I first started mentoring team 104, We could use what came in some crates, a few additional raw materials and anything in a catalog from a company called Small Parts. A very limited and restrictive activity. Ever year since then teams collectively have been screaming at First to open up the program. First listened and has more or less made this competition wide opened. It has turned into a monster of a design build compete activity. First gave us what we the the consumer wanted and demanded. Now that we have gotten what we wanted we are up set that it is driving us crazy. It was the collective choice of the First community that lead to the current state. In stead of pulling back and making the First competition more restrictive and limited. Not such a resource hog. We are demanding First remove the last major restriction - Build time. This could destroy the program. We do not have discipline. We can not limit our time investment. Make this thing wide opened time wise and we will destroy our selves. We can not discipline our selves. Others have to do it for us.

Please do not remove the build time restriction. I do not want to have a personal meltdown next year. First corporate please listen to me. Save me from myself.

Just my opinion.