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

[aaronm_k]

Originally Posted by Mikell Taylor

::waves:: I started my own team. Then again, I'm in the first ever class at a brand new school -- we had to start *everything*. I did wait until my sophomore year, so I had a good sense of my limits, time management, and so forth. Time management is an important skill to learn. I didn't do many other clubs or organizations, but I did have time for FIRST. And I have a halfway decent GPA!

You know what you're capable of. The above post is right: think before you act. But taking risks is sometimes a good thing.

I'm guessing Olin College encouraged you to mentor a FIRST team, rather than worrying about how it would affect your grades. With their vision, you will learn a lot from experience that you can't learn in a classroom. My team's leader, an engineer who became a teacher, even says being on a FIRST team will teach you more about engineering than you will ever learn in college.