Seeking advice / opinions

[Siri]

I understand your dedication to your team--and it must be amazing for this to be bothering you so much--but in my mind, family and financial stability always have to come first. Given how you describe your team, I'm virtually certain that though they'll miss you, they'll understand your situation.

If it's any help, many, many teams have been in this situation before. A lot of them faced it as rookies without a seasoned FIRST/etc mentor on board. Others (like mine) faced it when that mentor had to leave. We didn't begrudge him at all, and we've had another absolutely excellent mentor step up to take his place. We've also had several other fantastic mentors step in as well, and in some ways the team is better for overcoming the difficulty. Were we lucky? Yes, absolutely. And audaces fortuna iuvat. Your team can make it too.

As to the military, I'm not one to encourage joining for the money. Do some people do it? Yes, and a few take to it very well. Many others don't, unfortunately. I'd highly encourage you to think this through well past the financial considerations. In the end, though, it's your choice. I think Don's got a great start on another alternative.

Originally Posted by Mark McLeod

Your eventual choice and how you go about handling your difficult situation will set an example for the students, no less than your engineering mentoring.

Absolutely. In fact, I'd argue it's more the former. If a prior student's perspective helps cement this at all, I have literally lost track of then number of times I've been at a loss/in over my head and wondered, "what would Clem/Foster do?" (other than undoubtedly tease me for asking the question) I'm surprised how often it works.
Note: I'm not saying FIRST should be a deciding factor here. Trying to live your life such that you'd be proud to serve as a role model? Doesn't strike me as a bad philosophy.