Mentors VS Students

[Chris Fultz]

First, I wish the title was "Mentors and Students" - that is a little more representative of the idea of a team.

But, to the topic. There is lots that could be written, but the first sugestion is to try and talk it out with the team. Talk to other students and see if they share your view, or if you are alone it in. Talk to the mentors, and explain how you feel things are going and ask if there are some better ways. Talk and work it out. In the end, a team needs both motivated students and motivated mentors to be successful.

Remember, their is no defined way to run a team. Some work very well with a high level of mentor activity, some with a high level of student activity, and others with a blend of the two. Chances are, the 'better' teams (define that however you want) have learned a "style" over a few years and have adapted to it - mentors and students.

As a mentor, one of the biggest challenges is to know when to step in. Yes, there is value in letting a student make a mistake and learning from it, but sometimes those mistakes have a significant impact on several students and mentors. Letting one student "learn from their mistake" by having a robot break down in match 1 of a weekend is an expensive price for a whole team to pay and not fair to anyone involved, especially if a "better way" would have prevented it. Even letting a whole group learn by buildig a robot that cannot function is a high price to pay for a "lesson".

A mentor is responsible and accountable to several people - students want to learn and be inspired, other mentors want to contribute, parents want their kids to gain some real knowledge from the program, school administration wants to be sure the students are safe and benefiting, sponsors want to be well represented by their teams, the mentor himself / herself needs to know they are adding value to the process - if not there are lots of other things to do with their time. If things go really wrong, it is more likely for the mentor to hear about it than the students. It is a delicate balancing act and is not easy for anyone.