Mentoring as a College Freshman

[the programmer]

With my team's competition season over, I'm very split about what my involvement in FIRST should be next year. I was involved as a student on my high school team for 6 years, four years as a programmer and two years as project manager. I've already made the decision that I will stay involved with this team through the summer but stop this involvement when the new school year begins.

I'll be commuting to a school about 30 minutes from home and there are a number of teams in my area that I could see mentoring. However, I'm worried that as a college freshman, my work load would be too much to actively mentor an FRC team while still maintaining some set semblance of a life. I'm wondering what experience and advice others have with this.

[Lil' Lavery]

There's no uniform answer to this question. Plenty of individuals have found plenty of benefit in taking a break from FIRST (or at least team involvement) once they begin college. Plenty of others, including myself, have jumped right in with new teams. If I did it again, I may have taken a year or two off before jumping in, but I don't regret my decision. There's plenty of adjustment to the college life, and workload very well may be a concern depending on what classes you're taking and your professors. Do remember that you can stay involved in FIRST without becoming a mentor. Regionals are always looking for volunteers.

[Christopher149]

From my experience as a college student, mentoring as a freshman was not a problem. Now... being lead mentor as a third-year with ~17 credits, that is something to avoid .

*MechE and Comp Sci

[Caleb Sykes]

Read this, it helped me in dealing with that question this year.

[Chris_Ely]

Originally Posted by inkling16

Read this, it helped me in dealing with that question this year.

In addition to that thread, this thread is also helpful.
College is a big adjustment, but only you know the workload you can and cannot sustain before everything suffers. Schoolwork before robotics, no matter how much we wish it was the other way around.

[wesbass23]

Like the above have mentioned, all situations are unique.

I am in my second year at UW-Milwaukee studying Mechanical Engineering and I have mentored/drive coached my team 1732 for both years during college and the hardest part about it was finding a ride to meetings because I do not have access to a car.

[aryker]

Check out this thread as well.

[MrBydlon]

Another good resource is this Tumblr post from Libby Kamen.
Tumblr Post

Every situation is unique but you're going into it with the right mindset, take advice and then do what's best for you.

[Anupam Goli]

Mentoring in your freshman year of college is really tough. I don't recommend it to anyone unless they've mastered the ability to manage time and network easily with other people. Part of the "freshman experience" at college is having time to meet others and network with people, learning new things and going through new experiences. It might be easiest to take a year off from FIRST to enjoy your freshman year of college, and really get a grip for what you want to do in college and in your future.

Don't underestimate the workload for college either. I barely kept my scholarship (GPA > 3.0) my freshman year, and mostly due to monster drinks and non stop studying for finals so I could keep my A's and raise my C's to B's in all of my classes. You want to be able to get a gauge for how much of a workload your major classes have, and based on that, maybe get a little bit more involved. Try volunteering at local events instead, if you can't quell your FIRST addiction.

FIRST can wait. Your academics and future can't.

[Akash Rastogi]

Even after a successful season of mentoring, I don't really recommend doing it in college.

[PayneTrain]

I only reccommend it if you have already accepted you are clinically insane or suffer an addiction.

[Zach O]

I'd take a break for a bit. Personally, it was nice to take a step back. I still stayed involved with FIRST - I build things for the community, browse Chief, occasionally watch webcasts, volunteer at events - but I'm not directly involved with a team. After a year off, maybe evaluate if you have the time to get involved again, and if that's what you want to do. Just because you leave for a year doesn't mean you can't come back!

[Ian Curtis]

Most college students aren't mature enough to be effective mentors. I would not have admitted to this when I was in college, but it definitely applied to me too.

College is a great time to try other design competitions like Design/Build/Fly, FormulaSAE, FormulaHybrid, or just do your own thing. Chances are you won't be building competitive robots in your professional life, so you might as well try something else. FIRST will still be here in a few years should you decide to give back then.

[Rockwind79]

I just want to say you have to decide for yourself. Don't let any of us change what you want to do, just use what we say as advice not as the right or wrong way of doing things.

For me personally, mentoring as a college Freshman has not been that hard.IF you do you just have to balance you time and make sure you don't let your grades slip. It would be just working that time management skill that helps you later in life. But it is your choice in the end, hope this helps!

[IKE]

Originally Posted by Zach O

I'd take a break for a bit. Personally, it was nice to take a step back. I still stayed involved with FIRST - I build things for the community, browse Chief, occasionally watch webcasts, volunteer at events - but I'm not directly involved with a team. After a year off, maybe evaluate if you have the time to get involved again, and if that's what you want to do. Just because you leave for a year doesn't mean you can't come back!

I am a big fan of Zach's approach. Stay involved via volunteering and other elements. Volunteering at events can help you build up a useful network for when you return to mentoring.