Freshman Positives

[Alekat]

Originally Posted by Kyle45

I was a Freshman myself last year. I was the battery boy/trailer runner. During eliminations I would make sure that we had batteries ready to go. At Nationals I had to run all the way to the trailer (it was like 2 miles away) and get something that we didn't even need to get. But hey, someone had to do it. I say it should be a "right of passage". What do you think?

-Kyle

I feel I shouldn't support any "rights of passage" because many people may get the wrong idea. I've heard of some rather cruel rights of passage for other sports, specifically football, and although some may seem rather entertaining I'm afraid i don't see them as fitting for a robotics team. However carrying a 12v battery two miles does seem like a good way for them to burn off some steam .

[Alex Golec]

Filing stuff was the best past of my freshman year, now that i think about it. It was a relatively low-stress job that required almost no thought to complete. But freshman are just as valuable to the team as everyone else - they're the one who will keep the team running when seniors graduate.

As for the rights of passage, was the runner at nationals, and that was difficult. Especially when we ran out of coolant and I had to bug the remaining teams (about 15 of them...) for coolent, and eventually I got some (than you teams 111 and 494). Doing mindless tasks isnt a right of passage, but showing dedication and hard work is.

[VGMasterShadow]

Originally Posted by Kyle45

I was a Freshman myself last year. I was the battery boy/trailer runner. During eliminations I would make sure that we had batteries ready to go. At Nationals I had to run all the way to the trailer (it was like 2 miles away) and get something that we didn't even need to get. But hey, someone had to do it. I say it should be a "right of passage". What do you think?

-Kyle

That builds character for next year.

[SarahBecker]

Hey, as a rookie, I was running from the stands to the pits and back again after every other match to give our drivers the match results and scouting info. Believe me, the freshmen can deal with being a battery runner.

[Alex Golec]

Eventually, the turning point for all freshman is when their mindset changes from
"I'm running with batteries because someone told me its important."
to
"I think our robot needs fresh batteries; it is completely essential to our team."

The change is basically becoming independent while still remaining attached to the general team motivation. Soon enough, robotics changes from your 3-day-a-week extracurricular activity to your 24/7 life.

_Alex

[LPaton716]

Originally Posted by Andy Brockway

We do not have special jobs for Freshmen. In fact we seperate our group in two, Veterans and Rookies. The only difference is that the Veterans are required to teach the Rookies. This year 12 of our 17 members were rookies. Half way through the season some of the 'rookies' were teaching other rookies. Talent and ability to follow instruction are traits that we encourage. Responsibility we require.

yep. Currently we (veterans) will split up and several of the rookies will join us and we teach them what we know.
Freshman (and other rookies) really are invaluable because they will be the core of the team when you leave. Also, if you don't know a skill well enough to teach it to someone else then you still have a lot of learning to do. One of the best ways to really understand something is to teach it and if there are no people to teach then that knowledge will leave with you and you'll have missed an opportunity to learn more about what you know.