Advice for Rookie You?

[thomasweese]

Originally Posted by frcguy

Take advantage of any opportunities you are given.
-Always take advantage of opportunities that are presented to you. For example, I got to experience so much and learn so many things my rookie year from taking advantage of opportunities like visiting other team's shops, going to Champs, and just talking to people at events.

THIS INCLUDES MENTORS AND SENIOR STUDENTS. Some of the greatest opportunities to make connections and learn skills will come from your more seasoned peers or adult mentors. Every adult volunteer has an amazing background and resume, with countless things to explain/teach. Listen to them and take advantage of their knowledge.

Senior students will benefit from teaching you just as much as you will benefit from being taught. Listening to older students, asking questions, and working together not only helps you gain new passions and skills, but it helps them become better at what they already know how to do, and improve when it comes to sharing their knowledge with others. You're doing both parties a favor when working with other team members, specifically the experienced ones that have been on the team for a while.

[Lili_1868]

I actually just finished my rookie season! I would tell myself to try more things in the other subteams. Also, talk to other teams some more.

[Bkeeneykid]

Originally Posted by SamcFuchs

There's over 6000 teams from all over the world, and you're one of the lucky 600 that get to go to a world championship where you can meet many of them.

6237 team numbers, 3134 actual teams...

Sorry to be nitpicky, but I figured I don't want the rookie collective us to be misinformed.

[PayneTrain]

avoid chief delphi

[Bkeeneykid]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

avoid chief delphi

Too true.

You must spread some reputation before giving it to PayneTrain again.

[frcguy]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

avoid chief delphi

Yes. The evil Chief Delphi machine will begin to consume you and your non-robotics life thread by thread. First hand experience .

[Chak]

#35 chain has a pitch of .375, not .35.

[Aeglos]

Don't ever believe anyone that says mounting electronics upside- down is a "good idea" or that "we have the right stuff to do it- it'll work this year".

Many fallen encoder wires later....

[JohnFogarty]

If you design a drivetrain you should design drivetrains to run with an even number of links in the chain.

[Jonny_Jee]

I'd tell him to put down the cup of noodle and get to work. Also, observe what veteran members and mentors are doing closely, note their successes and failures with detail.

And for goodness' sake, meaningfully name your cad files.

[Vale]

Alright, I can't resist threads like this, so here is a slightly excessive trail of advice.

You should not sacrifice your health for this.

As much as you want to, and I know you will, you seriously need to know when to take a break. You are still transitioning into high school, and we both know you have this tendency to try to occupy yourself as much as possible. This is more than just a program to you, but you need to make sure that you are okay.

Let things flow naturally.

You are luckily going to grow as a person, by a lot, which is to say that you will see differences in the way you conduct yourself. I'm not going to lie to you and say that you are quite qualified to be a leader at this point, because you aren't, not fully. But, you will discover this convenient ability to talk to parents and young children. Thank the library for that, but also our outreach events.

Feed your urge to learn.

You aren't going to grow out of your rookie stage, not in terms of genuine interest of learning, or sheer awe of teams, but you will chill down in some regards. There are tons of resources out there, including ones in development, as you know quite well. There are communities and people out there, albeit, not always the kindest. You don't need to post, but hey. Posting was never required.

Mess-ups are okay, if you admit them.

So, this is something both applicable to the team and Chief Delphi. Your first post will likely be a misinterpretation of the rules that will be responded to. That's fine. You admit the mistake, and move on with life. But as time passes, you will want to post more as you begin to envy people's post counts. Then you realize that post count doesn't mean THAT much, neither does the number of green dots. In the larger scheme of things, you will soon recognize who can help with your problems.

Don't be afraid to talk to people.

I probably don't need to remind you this, because you are exceptionally good at using online chats for this. Real life is kinda nice though. The "friend other teams at outreach and shirt trade strategy to keep contact" was A++! You will find yourself increasingly networking with people on your own. The biggest supporter of this will honestly be Twitch Chat for regionals, followed by Chief Delphi and just straight-up adding people on Facebook. You, my dear duckling, will be surprised by who you become friends with through that last option.

You were right about scouting.

Yep. You volunteered to scout at the off-season you attended around the time of making your account. Thank Karthik for the Simbot Seminar on Scouting and Match Strategy. Watching that live online actually inspired you to start scouting. It still remains your favorite part about being on a team, though you still like going down and talking to people.

Finally, though not on the list, is that Idaho is awesome, especially when there's Tators involved.

[smitikshah]

Also bonding with team members can make for a great team experience. My rookie year I stayed really closed off and didn't make great friends with people on my team. However, this year I opened up a lot and took part in a lot of team events/bonding experiences and now its so much more enjoyable and I made such great friends.

[Liam Fay]

Respect your leadership, there's a reason why they're the leadership.

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by frcguy

Take advantage of any opportunities you are given.
-Always take advantage of opportunities that are presented to you. For example, I got to experience so much and learn so many things my rookie year from taking advantage of opportunities like visiting other team's shops, going to Champs, and just talking to people at events.

Speaking of this, I love showing other people our shop, what we did to acquire stupid amounts of shop equipment for cut-throat prices, and how theoretically we don't need it to be as successful as we are(It does make engaging more hands a very easy task however).

All you have to do is ask(PM is fine) and I can arrange it.

Please ask.

Originally Posted by thomasweese

Senior students will benefit from teaching you just as much as you will benefit from being taught.

This, very this. If I could go back and do it again I would bash my inept skills at teaching when I was on FRC 1678 Team EnGen and force myself to do some dang teaching of other people. Once you are decent at something the easiest way to get amazing at it is to teach others your skills. It puts you in a whole different point of view that really forces you to understand why you do what you do. I spent my first year as a mentor doing a crappy job of it because of my teaching skills, don't be me, learn to pass on your knowledge effectively.

[spat]

I know that most of the things that I wrote were already mentioned by other members. Here are some things that I would advise a rookie or anyone in general:

• If you are a driver, you should not be in pits unless it is absolutely necessary. As a driver, you must be focused on the game, not on what problems may the robot have. In other words, pits can be stressful, and stress affects everyone.
• Always mentor the rookies, especially if your team lacks consistent mentors.
• From season to season, new things can be made available for FRC teams. You should not build a robot using the technologies and methodologies that your team used 4 years ago. In other words, accept change and innovate constantly.
• Do not hesitate to kick out of your team members who don't aport something to the team (especially if they are not rookies). It may sound rude, but they are not a good example to the younger members of your team. It may also prompt them to participate more when they re-gain their interest in FRC.
• Everyone makes mistakes, even if they have a lot of experience. Conflicts will always happen. In some sense, this is good, since you can always learn from your mistakes (both on the practical side and on the emotional side).
• All-nigthers and marathons are not a good idea. Period.
• You will get experience just after you need it. This will happen many times.
• For the rookie to respect you, you must first respect the rookie.
• As much as you hate your safety captain, listen to what he/she says.
• Never lose interest in learning. Find some time to learn new things, even if at first you may think that you know enough. What we know its just the tip of the iceberg.
• Everyone in your team will come from different backgrounds, do not expect everybody to have a good technical background.
• Talk with your parents, teachers and friends before build season. This will save you from a lot of trouble that may come with build season.
• Take advantage of the opportunities that FIRST or its sponsors offer you, especially if you are from the US.
• Last but not least, do not over-involve yourself with robotics, try to balance FRC and the other aspects of your life (school, family, sleep, etc.).