Kettering University Rookie Robotics Team

[Stephen Kowski]

sponsor.....try to attain many small sponsors rather than one huge one.....if the ever have a problem and a company drops out (which they do from time to time) you only lose 10% of your budget rather than 100%. Just a thought

[JVN]

Allright young ones...
Time for the voice of dissent.
Now remember, I've been there (in a big way).

Repeat after me:

I <state your name> hereby swear that should my GPA, at any given time, for any one semester in the next 4-8 years drop below a 3.30, I will immediately discontinue my involvment in my FIRST team.

I <state your name> understand that there is more to life than FIRST. I swear to join other campus activities, and maybe even find a nice guy/girl who will date me.

I <state your name> promise that my academic career is foremost in my mind, and I shall work my hardest to be successful, such that I can become a REAL engineer, and maybe get somewhere in life.
I understand that I would be a much bigger benefit to FIRST as a successful adult, than as a college kid.
I know that my parents are paying for me to go to school, not help a FIRST team.

I <state your name> hereby promise to not make the same mistakes made by so many others before me.
I will not fall victim to the sweet song of the denim-king.
I will live happily ever after, with liberty and fraternity for all.

Seriously guys. I'm not joking. For every "successful" college FIRST story, I know 10 major bummer stories.
I've seen GREAT people burn up in bad ways.

Some facts:

• You probably think you know what you're getting into. You don't.
• You probably think you know a lot about running a team. You don't.
• You probably expect to be able to balance school and FIRST easily. You won't.
• You probably think you know how to be a good mentor. You don't.
• You probably think that you'll be smart enough to skip FIRST meetings to sudy for the big test. You won't.
• You probably think that even if your GPA drops, it won't matter because employers care more about FIRST. They don't.
• You probably think you "owe" FIRST for all it's done for you. You don't.
• You probably think you know how much Thermo sucks. You don't.

Join Mini-Baja, it's more fun anyways.


Okay...
Consider yourself warned.
It's a small weight off my conscience, the rest is up to you.

JVN


Ohh yeah... don't ever be ashamed to ask for help. We (the entire community) are all here for you.

[Steve Shade]

To add to what John said:

FIRST will be around after you graduate college. If you really want to stay involved, volunteer at at regional event once or twice (at most) if you can fit it into your schedule without killing yourself. This will keep you in FIRST, provide valuable services (ex: scorekeeping, reffing, VIP tours, Team Tech support, inspecting, etc..) to the regionals, yet allow you to have a life.

For those of you that want to do the team thing, be realistic with your time. Become realistic at scheduling. When planning things out, conservative is better than optimistic. Limit yourself to one particular thing for the team. Keep in mind that one specific thing such as, running the team, might be a big too much to handle.

I've been through the job hunt in the last year, a 3.0+ is a requirement, and I was very glad I had one. FIRST helps get you in the door, but a good GPA gets you the job.

Finally, Thermo did not suck. I'm an Electrical Engineer so didn't have to take it. For the EE's out there:

• You probably think you know how much Electromagnetic Theory sucks. You don't.

Steve