College student mentors

[Molten]

First off: IF this is a rule, I've broken it twice on two separate teams. This is definitely NOT a rule.

Originally Posted by monkeymel1003

considering most of the work I do for the team is organizational it would be helpful for our team if I was able to come back.

This segment is the part that worries me. Networking and organization are not always the most fun part of engineering. However, they are very important for all future engineers to have experience doing. It would seem to me that it would be MOST valuable if you were to teach them how to do what you do. I am NOT saying you shouldn't come back. I'm just saying that though it may help make things easier on the team if you do this for them, it doesn't necessarily mean it is best for them.

My take on mentoring, a mentor's job is very different then a student's job. They help do things. Sure, some like to get in there and get their hand's dirty. I've seen some that do some things for the students. But they always do it in a teaching manner. There are many debates on CD over what a mentor should do. However, I think we all believe in doing it with a focus on teaching. Personally, I like to explain everything that I do. I often keep a student handy to work with me. That way they can do most of the work. I usually lead them through the work without doing it. This works really well for dimension planning. However for organization is quite different. Perhaps you could choose a young student to be an apprentice(sort of) and teach them how to network throughout the team, how it is organized and how to keep it working smoothly are very important for students to learn.

If you want to discuss this more, please feel free to PM me. It is very important to think about what kind of mentor you want to be, and how to be that kind of mentor. As a student my focus was on the success of the team. As a mentor my focus is on the learning of the students. When you think about these things you may think about things as I do, or you might become a completely different kind of mentor. Either way, good luck with everything.