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

[laurenlacy]

I will offer up something that I haven't really seen much of in this thread... that college FIRST programs, when well organized, can actually help you in many ways.

Purdue FIRST Programs has given me some of the best friends, memories, and study buddies I could ever ask for. I think the key is that it is well organized, with professor support and a structure that allows you to find the area you fit in best.

As a freshman in college you will be overwhelmed with choices, I know I was. I would encourage you to go beyond FIRST... I am in Purdue FIRST Programs but I am also a member of a sorority and a member of SWE. But if you can't imagine your life without FIRST you don't have to.

I will echo the comments above--choose a college. If it has a FIRST Program, great. If it doesn't, that's great too. There are so many ways to stay involved, from volunteering at an event over your spring break to being an active member of the CD community.

IF, however, you end up at one of the few colleges that have established FIRST programs, I highly recommend it. My friends from Purdue FIRST are friends I know I will have the rest of my life. Many of us are in Engineering, and we get together and work on homework. There are always older members of the organization who have taken a class you're in, and they can be a treasure trove of information for you.

You will have 20 hour days, you will have all nighters. It does get harder, especially if you pursue an engineering degree. Whatever you choose to do, get involved on campus. Join a club relating to your major so that you can make friends who care about academics. Join a club that doesn't relate to your major so that you can be well rounded. Whatever you do, LOVE it.

[Molten]

Originally Posted by laurenlacy

You will have 20 hour days, you will have all nighters. It does get harder, especially if you pursue an engineering degree. Whatever you choose to do, get involved on campus. Join a club relating to your major so that you can make friends who care about academics. Join a club that doesn't relate to your major so that you can be well rounded. Whatever you do, LOVE it.

My experience is that 20 hour days and all nighters stem from too many curriculum. Honestly, it will be hard. But if you play your cards right, there is no need for this much work. That is of course, if you don't want to. I have friends that can't sleep before a test and pull long hours. However, I work 20 hours a week have about 15 credit hours and still manage to get about 7 hours of sleep and a 3.7 GPA.

PS: I am the first to admit that the number one thing missing on my resume is extracurriculars.

[Nica F.]

As a freshman in college now, I know I don't have much to support whether or not it is a good choice to mentor but I can give my 2 cents on how I made my decision and where I stand today.

I, am still a part of FIRST, I'm not a head mentor nor just a volunteer. I chose to join the FIRST program provided by my university.There is no doubt that everyone who has posted on this thread like D.J., Genia, and Joe have very very important things to consider when deciding whether or not to mentor, and quite honestly I read this thread more than twice and even started a thread with questions regarding FIRST after high school. It depends on what is right for you, but don't forget that college is a whole different ballpark coming out of high school. Even after reading threads, talking to friends who are alumni, and convincing myself that college is going to be a lot harder (more so as a first year engineering student), I was still shocked at how stressed I was getting in my first semester.

Originally Posted by laurenlacy

college FIRST programs, when well organized, can actually help you in many ways.

Like Lauren said, there are colleges that have FIRST programs. In fact some may also offer classes that count as college credit just as the Purdue FIRST program does. My first thoughts when I found out that there was a class offered for FIRST; I thought, "Cool, I can stay involved in FIRST and it'll be a class that counts for a couple credits." Which to me was a wonderful thing. If a college does have a FIRST program take Lauren's post and realize that it will be just as fulfilling if not more as it was in HS and can help you out in the future through connections made on a larger scale.

If however there is no program and you're looking for a local team to put under your wing, please please please weigh out your pros and cons and don't go easy on yourself on the cons section just because you love FIRST. We all love FIRST and every senior who leaves the shop for the last time feels like they're leaving a bit of their lives behind. But but just as many said, you dont have to mentor to stay involved. When you need your fill, go and volunteer when it lands on your break, go to kickoff with your old team when you're home for the winter, go on chiefdelphi, and use gameday.

[Allison]

One thing I do find interesting is the number of Purdue FIRST mentors that have posted here, I believe this speaks well for their program. While I will agree that joining an established program such as PFP is easier than going out on your own, there is still plenty of stress and work involved. One of the largest benefits of an established program, as stated by others is ME 297F, a class offered to FIRST members at Purdue which as an MET major I was able to use for credit toward my degree. I joined PFP when I was a sophomore in college after taking my freshman year to enjoy and adjust to college. I have made some lifelong friends as a college mentor. Here is my hindsight of 2 years mentoring while trying to balance college.

In 2006, one of the Purdue teams was just starting out, even with super stars like Flo that season to help us out, a group of 8 college mentors burned themselves completely out on FIRST only I returned the following year, since then only one other mentor has returned. After a lot of soul searching, I decided to return for that second year with none of my fellow mentors though some great new mentors joined the team that year. I took on a very large role due to lack of a teacher sponsor and everything suffered, while I had found the balance and was able to maintain my GPA that was about it. I was so incredibly stressed out that year and slept so little my body was a wreck by the end of that season. One of the wisest decisions I ever made in both my college and FIRST career was to take my senior year of college off from FIRST and only volunteer at a regional over spring break. I don’t regret my decision to be a college mentor especially when I watched my college team this year win EI at BMR, just the look on their faces and hearing about their best season ever makes me proud.

The kids I mentored as a college student are now seniors in high school and have to make their own decisions this year. Some I believe are up to the challenge of mentoring while others are not, I believe in each of them that they will make the right choice for them.

To all high school seniors and college students looking at mentoring; it is worth all the blood, sweat, and tears but remember you and your future comes first. If you do decided to mentor make sure that you have support and never be afraid to ask for help; that was my biggest mistake trying to do too much myself. Keep in mind that a night off from build season to study for an exam probably won’t mean that the robot doesn’t get done but it could very well be that key night that gets you an A on that test that opens the gateway to your future.