FAHA: Student to Mentor?

[Beth Sweet]

This FAHA'r is struggling with the reasoning behind a team policy of who is allowed to mentor. Can anyone offer a voice of experience on this issue?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The team I am a member of often has strong clashes between the opinions of the students and those of the mentors. One of the recent clashes has been over the idea of having students who have graduated high school after the previous season return to "mentor" as college students. These graduates go to nearby community colleges or universities and feel they could be of use during the season. They feel that helping their old team would not only be a productive use of free time, but also make them more desirable for potential transfer schools.

Most of the students currently on the team see no reason why the team shouldn't accept help when offered. The students make strong bonds to each other and seeing a student lost to graduation is always tough. An obvious possible factor in wanting the graduates to return may be that they just want to see their friends again. The graduates in question were, however, very active and productive students during their time on the team.

The leadership believes that having graduates return as college students is counterproductive for all parties. Their point of view is that the graduates need to move on to other things. The general feeling is that graduates will not be able to transfer roles from student to college student. The graduates feel they are being cut off by the team leadership, and the current students feel like this is against the spirit of FIRST. It has become a rather divisive issue on a team which was already going through choppy waters.

Obviously a mentor who is a college student will not have the same qualifications or experience as a mentor with an engineering degree. Does this mean they are not fit to return to their old team until they receive their degree? I understand there are many teams out there making good use of college students. Are there any teams that have had good/bad experiences with inviting old students back?

I'm not asking anybody to either support one party or the other. I'm just simply looking to hear your honest personal experiences and wisdom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIRST-a-holic Anonymous mailbox is a place to share your concern and frustration about your FIRST experience anonymously. It is the perfect place if you just want someone to listen, or ask for advice when you don’t know what to do. Submit your letters today at the FIRST-a-holic anonymous mailbox forum. If you wish to respond to this thread anonymously, please PM Bharat or Beth with your response and thread title.