Anybody else burned out?

[JVN]

Originally posted by Andy Grady
Hey BAKER! Dude you were in a band?!?!?! Oh man, I can see it now, Andy all decked out in long hair, tatoo's all over his arms, playing the bass for some punk rock band playing the local clubs! Man, did you marry one of your groupies? How much for the demo cd???

I'll reward anyone that posts a picture. No questions asked.

btw Grady,
Great post, you certainly summed up how I feel.

John

[Kate Leach]

Something I noticed when I was reading through all these posts:

• High school students rarely admitted they were burnt out

Even when they claimed that they were burnt out, it was on a small level -- not large enough to actually quit FIRST or take a break for at least a season. Many students claimed that they would never get burnt out when it came to FIRST. I used to be like that. Senior year of high school, information was being collected for yearbooks:

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? Just out of college with a bachelors degree, still doing FIRST -- either for my old team or for a new one that I've started.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? Still doing FIRST, a full time engineering job, maybe married (to someone that does FIRST) with a pickup truck for easy transport of robots or materials to make robot related things.

I also had the dream of having a machine shop in the basement of my house when I grew up, that way FIRST could be done in my house.

• College students had either burnt out totally, talk themselves out of quitting each year, take preventative burn out measures, or are still too new to doing FIRST & college to realize that they may get burnt out sooner than later.

I'm one of the college students (well, I've graduated now) who burned out. I was all gung-ho about FIRST for my first two years at WPI.

Freshman year I let my grades slip quite a bit -- mom wasn't too thrilled about that. I did a lot that year 'cause I wanted to show that I was good enough for the team. I just came out of running my old team, I was ready to run the new team -- I needed to prove myself. So, I did as much FIRST as was physically possible: I pulled all nighters, I skipped classes, I slept in the shop sometimes...

Sophomore year I was still totally addicted. I helped run the team and I was Head Scout. I was happy that I was helping run the team, and I was in charge of scouting -- what I loved when I was in high school. I was getting to do more administration stuff than engineering stuff. At the end of the year, I started bashing heads with someone and felt as if I wasn't getting any appreciation for all the work I had been doing. (I got recognition once a year for all the scouting efforts.) At the end of that year, I had decided that I likely wasn't going to continue doing FIRST.

The summer before Junior year, I danced almost every night of the week. It made me realize just how much I loved to dance previously. When I went back to WPI for Junior year, I still kept my feet wet with organizational things. Before kickoff came around, I announced that I was no longer going to be doing FIRST for T190. I had really started to focus more on school, and dancing was a necessity for me.

FIRST is great. I love seeing students grow because of something that I had been doing. My problem came when the stress outweighed what I got out of seeing students grow.

• Engineers have burnt out, have ways of getting around burnout each year, or have it worked out so that burnout isn't even an issue.

I can't really relate this part to my personal experience, but I have seen burnout overcome by many different people. Andy Baker, Joe Johnson, Mike Martus, Bryan Lee, Ken Stafford, Sam Leone, Bill Beatty... I'm sure there are more, but I fear that if I list some people, they may have burnt out by now without my knowing it.



...and that's my story.

Kate

[Kate Leach]

Originally posted by JVN
Hmmm...
I saw that quote spotlighted, and I have to WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagree.
You WILL learn a lot from FIRST, and you'll take a lot away from it, but the things you learn in school are infinitely important to your future. When you apply to college you can only stretch the "I build robots for fun!" story so far.

I agree with John!

FIRST really is a great learning tool, but you can't do it well without doing well in school. I remember being in Trigonometry in high school wondering why the heck I would need to know [b]SOH CAH TOA[\B]. I had just been using it to drill through homework problems. FIRST is actually where I applied the knowledge that I gained from my school work.

If you've played an instrument in a school band, you've likely had one-on-one lessons. You get your practice in on your own time at your house (or somewhere) and at band practice with a group in a band setting.

School is where you learn your lessons. FIRST is where you get to practice and apply all that you learn. Don't forget that. (Besides, if you do well in your classes while doing FIRST, your GPA will be better and colleges would like you more. )

Kate

[PMGRACER]

Wow! This is cool. My first thread, and so many folks posting! What a silly thing to be excited about,eh?

Doing better each day that I relax. Jumping back into the chaos again in a few months doesn't sound so bad. Actually talked to Dennis Hughes today about doing a tank tread similar to the TechnoKats design in 2001. This stuff just never quits! Even talked about how to improve the transmission a little. I guess you have so much invested in different ideas, and want to see them grow. Also, working on the Racecar takes my mind off FIRST for a while. Getting kinda curious as to what FIRST will cook up for next season. You know, if FIRST comes up with a really cool game, I'll have to stay around for at least another year and see how it all plays out...then I can quit after that...Always seems they create a game that ropes you in though...guess there isn't much chance of escaping...

Saw Andy Baker do kareoke in Houston. Lets just say he might just have a second career if Delphi doesn't mind him touring the country with Steppenwolf!!

[JVN]

Originally posted by PMGRACER
Saw Andy Baker do kareoke in Houston. Lets just say he might just have a second career if Delphi doesn't mind him touring the country with Steppenwolf!!

Don't any of you engineers carry cameras?!?

[Adam Y.]

Anyway, man this post is geting long, sorry, I love FRIST. I love Drag Racing. How I'll find a way to mangae both, I have no idea. Maybe I just need to spend some quality time in the garage and race track and forget about robots for a little while. Cuz' you know when Jan 4/5 comes round' I'll be itchin to go gang busters again. I'll never learn

Yeah First keeps me from doing a lot of things. It stops me from building trebucets, potato cannons, more robots, and chain mail armor. On second thought..... Maybe this is a good thing for the people in my neighborhood. Knowing my luck I might blow up the neighborhood.

[team222badbrad]

[quote]Originally posted by JVN
[b]Hmmm...
I saw that quote spotlighted, and I have to WHOLEHEARTEDLY disagree.
You WILL learn a lot from FIRST, and you'll take a lot away from it, but the things you learn in school are infinitely important to your future. When you apply to college you can only stretch the "I build robots for fun!" story so far.

Let me correct myself for all out there on CD. FIRST teaches you many different that cannot be taught in class easily. Many students would not have the chance to work with engineers if FIRST was not out there. FIRST also teaches a wide variety of things that would take several classes to learn everything... Such as taking a machining class and taking a drafting class. Instead of taking these classes I can just directly work with machinists and Drafters to learn how to make a part. However I have taken both types of classes to learn even more about these subjects. FIRST just has so many different subjects that would take many different classes to learn all the different things.
FIRST has narrowed down my career choices to: a machinist, some kind of electronics guy?, or drafting.

FIRST helps to show what kind of career choices there are, teaches you about them and helps you figure out what you like to do!

I still wish my school gave credits to the students involved with FIRST!!!

[PMGRACER]

If you could plug me into the Matrix, I could download the whole "Andy Baker Tearin' up Born to be Wild" sequence...Guns. Lots of Guns...

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally posted by JVN
Don't any of you engineers carry cameras?!?

John, unspoken engineer law #1, no evidence, besides a picture is nowhere as surrealistic as being there. (He did a fine job by the way!)

[Amanda Morrison]

Something tells me we're going to have to have karaoke at IRI... I think Clark can arrange it!


I think Kate is right. All college mentors... think back to your younger days in FIRST in high school. I can remember being wide awake first thing in the morning catching a flight to Orlando, or on a bus up to Grand Rapids, or getting up early for fundraisers. This past year, after running on empty for awhile, I managed pneumonia for an entire week. Go figure.

[JVN]

Originally posted by Amanda Morrison
This past year, after running on empty for awhile, I managed pneumonia for an entire week. Go figure.

We had a college mentor with Mono still put in 6 or 7 all nighters. Now THAT is dedication. It's also pretty stupid.

Remember Kids:
Don't be like Chris!

[David Kelso]

After going through 10 'build Seasons', I can say that I had decided to "quit" during 8 of those seasons. But each year there is something to keep you going. Getting the wife involved, having former members come help or even help for a year from Andy Grady. Yea, you can even keep coming back so that you have a chance to see old friends.

This year was really tough, we had a new sponsor with NO FIRST experience and a bare bones budget. I knew that I was losing 4 wonderful seniors this June, one of them not only being the "baby" of my family but also my right hand "person" for 3 years. (yes Kristen, you know that is true).
It would have been an "easy excuse'' for leaving. I even used the 'quit" word outloud around the house.

But, by the time the competitions came and I saw the FIRST SPIRIT build in my Sophomore and Freshmen members, I decided that I can hang in at least one more year. They deserve the chance to have a FIRST program too.

Maybe if I spend less time reading "delphi', I could get a head start on next year and not be as rushed then.....well, let me read just one more post first...........

[PMGRACER]

Anyone else ever see "Mr. Holland's Opus"? Somehow FIRST mentors seem to follow Richard DRyfus' path. You know we set out to be famous musicians, get sidetracked teaching kids all about being in a high school marching band for money to support the family while we get our hot music career off the ground...

It is amazing how things work out sometimes. You get involved in this intially because building robots sounds cool or maybe you like to work with young impressionable minds...Little do you know that FIRST can overtake your life. Once your here, it seems that no matter what you do you just can't leave. No matter how many times you say "I Quit" either out loud or in your head, something turns you into a hypocrite and you return despite yourself. Maybe we all just like hittting ourselves in the head with a hammer repeatedly or we end up making some really good friends here and love celabrating the freedom to creatively express and share awsome ideas...

[Nick Seidl]

No way am I burned out. After four years of FIRST, I go through withdrawl during the off-season. I go about my house and fix things that aren't really broken, visit CD, and plan for next year. I've already contacted my new team for next year, Purdue (my new school next year) sponsored team 461. To quote Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back."

[Lora Knepper]

I guess I've gotten the kick in the pants to start posting around here again....

I see many of my friends chiming in on this... Kate, Andy G, Matt.... and I agree with all of you. Kate, I particulary think you hit the nail on the head.

My path was similar. I ate, drank, breathed and sleeped FIRST all through high school. I had a leadership position even as a freshman on my team, and tried to carry that burden of the school district and sponsors along with the pressures of being a student. Everyone in my high school knew I was going to stay involved upon going to college. I tried to get involved with what was going to be my college team (RIT - 73) before I even moved on campus. I couldn't see myself doing anything else with my life. FIRST inspired me to choose my major - Mechanical Engineering/Aerospace.

Then reality hit. I never made it to college. I picked up at the age of 19, and had to forge my path over 1,000 miles from everything I had ever known - FIRST, family, home. And in my time alone, I spent my time plotting on how to get back to FIRST. I attended the Richmond regional in 2002 - and realized how much I had given to FIRST, and how much I had forgotten to indulge in the things I really loved. The stress of the two years prior when I left my high school team and started "floating" - just trying to be useful.... it was suddenly too much. And for anyone that knows me, at that point, I recognized I was burned out. FIRST had become more of a chore than a passion. And I dissapeared.

It's been a while now since I've had anything to do with first. It's been far to long since I've talked to or seen most of my friends from the program. But I needed time to recover the passion that I had for FIRST. Now, I realize I would like to return, but in a much more limited fashion. I have a good job, friends, and a drive to return to school for something very different than where I started (diesel mechanics). For me, I can't let a blind passion erase all that.... but, in the same, I can't step away completely any longer

Burnout does seem to be the one thing that hits a student after they've left things from the high school side. I understand now why people have left with a whole new perspective that you can't get unless you've been there. But there will always be the draw to return in one way or another.....

~ lora