Being a FIRST Alumni

[SystemS]

I have been a mentor for the last 5 years, 4 of which were during college. I main thing is, are you able to step back and take your hands off the robot? I have worked with mentors who were not able to make that transition. Some things I have seen are mentors that work hand in hand with the students in design and manufacturing, and depending on the demographics of the team, that might be perfectly fine. However, what I did is tell myself that the robot and the team are belong to the students. I will assist in design, CAD, and manufacturing only the their request. That does not mean I do nothing, I watch, very carefully, what is going on and step in if I see a problem that they do not. In that case I try not to just tell them what I see but take them through my thought process so they can learn from where I am coming. That is the approach I have taken and the students seem to appreciate that I will hep them out, but let them still make their own decisions.

At competitions, I tend to volunteer so I hopefully don't hang around the pit. I will however take off my inspector hat and lend a hand if something is needing to be done.