Advice for College Freshmen

[Amanda Morrison]

Originally posted by RogerR
I have multiple friends from my old team going to the same college as me, and all of us agree that we want to try and start a team.
-There is already a robotics club in place, and members of this club (in addition to a few faculty members) have expressed interest in this endeavor.
-There is a local high school that not only has a technology magnet, but also a business section, in addition to funding from multiple private companies/people, and the administration has also expressed its interest to get involved.
-Finally i am close (relatively) to my old team (312), in addition to teams 147 and 79, all of which may provide a source of experience and expertise.

all of these factors seem to provide an ideal enviroment for building a team.

They might... and if you have a lot of help, it's not nearly as bad... but just trust us. Especially if you plan on being very involved, it's not going to pan out. You'll be stressed out, and it's a lot of work.

If you've got everything you need, why not consider freelanceFIRST-ing for your freshman year, getting references and things together for next year, and basically still be in FIRST but wait to start your own team?

It's a lot of responsibility, more than you'll ever imagine. But I'm not going to lie, the feeling you get from it is like nothing else you'll ever experience, it's this feeling of "I did it!". Just make sure you can handle it before you go in too deep.

[Clark Gilbert]

When coming to Purdue, only sign up for MA151 unless you have to!! Even if you adviser says it will be "easy". Then you get into the class and after a few days you take a proficiency test and you score in the highest bracket, but then realize that 50% of the people in that bracket will fail the class..... Easy? I think not!

[Matt Attallah]

BTT!!!

That's right - I'm a rebel on Cd.com now!

[generalbrando]

I'm just a couple months into college, so maybe I shouldn't say anything, but I will. In the past I've always done more than I had to, challenged myself, and achieved great things (this is as big is my ego gets!). Whenever I talk about one of my crazy intentions, reaction are always "wow" "that's a lot of work" or "that can't be done" - something along those lines. When I decided I wanted to start a team, I kept hearing (these are not exagerations) "It can't be done at this school," "someone already tried that and it won't work," and "it sounds cool, but..." I didn't listen to them. Instead, I founded 1020. Now all those people who said those things can't even look me in the eyes today.

I normally laugh at those kinds of reactions, but coming to college I kept hearing so many people say that I needed to take it slow that I actually listened for once. And now I regret it. I'm paying paying big bucks and I'm not really challenged. So next semester will be different.

John makes a good point. If you can't handle your classes, how are you going to handle FIRST? However, my advice is that if you want to do something (i.e. start a FIRST team) and you think you can do it: don't ask "can I?" or "should I?" I'm not judging others' views (because they are valid and from a wise perspective - and I may join them after next semseter) however my pet peeve is defeatism simply because it discourages people. Especially when they are defeatist about themselves. If you try and fail - you can say you tried. If you don't try all you can say is the weak statement "I thought about it."

And remember - you have homework as a freshman! Dean's homework directed to seniors in high school was to make sure their college has a team. But again, if you can't handle it, you should hold out. However, if you think you can do it, but everyone's got you nervous...I wouldn't listen to them.

My two cents for now - maybe I'll add a nickel or two after next semester.

[Ashley Weed]

Also, if in the future others are reading this....
In comment regarding generalbrando's post - I was always one to say, I can do more... adn push myself beyond imagine. I started to take college classes, because I became bored my sophomore year in high school. However, when I finally graduated and went to college I found that even 19 credits were a bit much for me. It all depends on what you are required to take, what you want to take, and how you can balance it all with the full college experience. Don't push yourself too much the first year - find your spot, and then just go with the flow of things, it is a different world than high school.