Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor

[Kims Robot]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

I get the sense that some college students feel they owe something to their HS FIRST team, or to FIRST in general, and that they have to give something back.

I have to say that Ken nailed it for me here. My goal in starting 229 was to inspire just one student the way I had been inspired. As I said I got that and SOO much more...

There are definitely two sides to this coin. I like how DJ suggests taking a year off to figure things out. I dove headfirst into FIRST and not only was in FIRST but started a team my freshman year of college. I spent a TON of time over the summer planning it out, scrawling papers of ideas, typing up agendas, etc. I ran a pretty good preseason my freshman year, got everyone involved, we had a great time, and my GPA was a 3.5!! Not bad? I was also on the varsity ski team, and did i mention I only slept 3-4 hours a night? I was soon to find out this couldnt hold. My second semester, I lived and breathed FIRST. I scrambled to keep up with my studies, clawing every step of the way. The only thing that probably saved me was that finals were nearly three months after our last event. I got a 3.0 that semester. The next semester, Clarkson threw more at me, in the way of grades and the team. They werent happy with our performance the last year and got a bunch of MBA students to run the team... I had to do twice the work. That and my best friend having a baby nearly broke me... I ended up with a 2.7 GPA that semester. I nearly got kicked out of the honors program...

By then I started to realize my priorities, I had to let FIRST take a bit of a backseat (though I still mentored for the next two years) while I painfully clawed my way back up to a 3.25. I finally had to take my senior year off for fear of burnout and not being able to get all my coursework done, plus all the job interviews and everything else... so I chose to just volunteer. I ended up with a 3.3 and a very rewarding college experience.

That said, would I change anything? I dont think so. The struggles I went through made me who I am today. Made me able to keep up with 1511, taught me more than I could ever have learned about leadership, and even more about time management. I loved my college FIRST experience, and its probably why I had so many job offers (even more than any of the 4.0 students I knew), but it is NOT something to be taken lightly. It is NOT like your high school team, and it is NOT easy.

So with one side being to consider your college studies first, the second side is to grow to be all you can be. The best is likely a combination of both. Take your year off, but then give it all you have... even if thats only two years. Engineering companies LOVE well rounded students, they are looking for the leaders of tomorrow... but if FIRST only produces kids that are dedicated to FIRST... we wont have much of an impact on the world. We need to produce engineers first, FIRST mentors second.