So, you're not an engineer! How do you help your team??

[Madison]

As a mentor, I try to lead by example whenever possible, so that means that I do a lot of things that piss off a lot of other people. I don't play well with others, generally speaking, because I want for people to learn to be self-sufficient. It's not that I can't work well in a team, but that I've learned that it's exceptionally important to be able to stand on your own at times. Life's not always easy and I don't accept much by way of excuses. I am, above all else, always a vocal supported of education. A lack of knowledge about some subjects is okay; a lack of initiative to learn more is not.

That said, I am typically responsible for mechanical design and drafting. I design components for fabrication, but I don't handle the fabrication. I suppose that also places me in charge of outsourcing. While I'm not an engineer (yet?), I've learned a lot about acceptable practice in mechanical design over the years from studying the work of others and believe that I'm a valuable asset.

FIRST is about a lot more than robots, as these students are growing up and learning about the way the world works from their mentors. We don't just teach them about engineering, we teach them about life. I think it's of paramount importance that, in addition to showing them the benefits their works as engineers might have, we concurrently provide for them opportunities to explore other paths and maintain respect for and awareness of paths that we do not choose to follow, but are no less valuable, acceptable, or important.