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Unread 29-08-2010, 20:26
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Doing FIRST in College

All across the nation colleges are starting back up, and freshman are beginning their college experience. I thought this might be an appropriate time to talk about becoming a robotics mentor as a college student...

I put a post up discussing some of my experiences, and recounting some of the advice I give to students beginning their college life:

http://jvengineering.blogspot.com/20...n-college.html

Those who know me, won't be surprised by anything there...
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Unread 29-08-2010, 20:58
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Interesting post, I haven't witnessed this myself, but I know of one college student whose grades seriously dropped when he committed to too much FIRST.

Also, aren't there bigger/better/more challenging things to do in college, the BAJA competition is just one of them.... solar car... etc...
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Unread 29-08-2010, 21:03
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Yes preachy, but good advice. My own experience was to work my butt off with 18-hour class loads and 40-hour work weeks years 1-3, which meant my 6 hour last semester was a breeze (1 was a cleanup humanity) and I could easily mentor a team.

It makes sense that college mentors aren't great mentors in the teacher sense; however that totally ignores the ability for college mentors to show high school students new ways to learn things or even how mistakes are made by example. Generally speaking, college mentors are the closest-relatable mentors high school kids will have, so having someone to bridge the gap of the ages (a.k.a. knowledge paradox) may be useful.
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Unread 29-08-2010, 21:14
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Funny, I don't think John's musings are preachy at all. I think they are wise and it's very cool that he has shared his blog post here on CD.

I'm looking forward to reading the posts in this thread; bet it's going to be a great thread to find and reflect on down the road. The potential is definitely here.

Thank you, John -
Jane
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Unread 29-08-2010, 21:30
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Here's another thread on the subject, which reaches the same conclusion for only some of the same reasons: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=47004
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Unread 29-08-2010, 21:39
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

I read this today after a few of the other mentoring threads, and I'm comfortable in choosing not to continue in FIRST (other than as a volunteer) this year and possibly next year. Its unfortunate, but I'd rather attempt a high GPA and a shot at good jobs than fulfilling a hobby.

Now, FSAE, that sounds like fun...

Thanks JVN
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Unread 29-08-2010, 21:54
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

I agree with John's point, good read.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi View Post
I read this today after a few of the other mentoring threads, and I'm comfortable in choosing not to continue in FIRST (other than as a volunteer) this year and possibly next year. Its unfortunate, but I'd rather attempt a high GPA and a shot at good jobs than fulfilling a hobby.

Now, FSAE, that sounds like fun...

Thanks JVN
I feel the part I bolded is a bit off; I wouldn't say this is just a hobby, nor does it universally reduce the chance of a good job.
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Unread 29-08-2010, 22:04
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

I am about to head off to college and I have read through a lot of the other thread on the subject and enjoyed this thread as well.

I know how busy college life can be, I (of course) know how demanding FIRST is, I just got an excellent job at a lab, and I intend to continue in my musical pursuits as well. That being said, I intend to (loosely) remain involved with both FIRST and my team.

The one thing I am absolutely committed to doing is volunteering at my local regional. This is even easier for me than it is for most because my local regional is held on campus.

As for my old team itself: I want to show up every now and then (maybe once a week) as a mentor. The team is struggling a little and I want to be able to support them. School will come far before any FIRST activities and I certainly wont try to spend more than a few hours a week there.
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Unread 29-08-2010, 22:17
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Great post, John

I am a freshman in college now and I think that you make a great point. Even with that I plan to stay involved with FIRST. NC State is hosting a regional kickoff and a regional and I will definitely be there.

As for mentoring a team I am going to give it a shot. The last three years I was one of the leaders of my team and this past year attended about 33 of the 36 meeting we had. I noticed that most of our mentors weren't there everyday, most of them attending 3 maybe 4 meeting a week and half of those were on the weekends. I think that will work for me because I will still have time to study.

One question that I haven't seen brought up in any of the other thread: Since the season take place in the spring, during most students 2nd semester of college, shouldn't they have time to adjust to college during the fall so they can do FIRST in the spring?
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Unread 29-08-2010, 22:23
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

I'll mostly agree with John, but I'll pick at one of his points in particular:

Quote:
Too many robotics students go off to school already planning to join up with their local FIRST team (or even worse -- stay a member of their HS team). How can you "find yourself" if you just keep doing the same old stuff...
If you are bent on working with an FRC team, I highly recommend not working with the team you worked with in high school. I did; it's hard (if not impossible) to be a mentor to kids that were your classmates a few months prior.

And just for those who haven't experienced working with a different team...

Spoiler for Surprise:
It will most likely be a different experience from your high school team! Seriously, the experiences of working across 1293, 1618, 2815, and (tangentially) 1398 have all been different and yielded different lessons to learn, both from the technical and non-technical sides.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechkrunch
As for mentoring a team I am going to give it a shot. The last three years I was one of the leaders of my team and this past year attended about 33 of the 36 meeting we had. I noticed that most of our mentors weren't there everyday, most of them attending 3 maybe 4 meeting a week and half of those were on the weekends. I think that will work for me because I will still have time to study.

One question that I haven't seen brought up in any of the other thread: Since the season take place in the spring, during most students 2nd semester of college, shouldn't they have time to adjust to college during the fall so they can do FIRST in the spring?
If you can keep your priorities in order (family, school, robots), I wish you the best of luck. The second semester aspect is what helped me get a feel for staying on with 1293 that year; we weren't that active in the fall, so making a meeting every week or two was pretty easy to me. Year-round teams may have different issues.
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Unread 29-08-2010, 22:52
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Another thing I think is worth mentioning is that if you're planning or even thinking about mentoring while in college, you really should sit down with the mentors of that team and discuss what they expect from you. Just saying, "I'll show up when I can make the time" can be a big (and unintended) disservice to that team who is counting on you fulfilling your agreement.

Anyone have any experience like this?
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Unread 29-08-2010, 23:00
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Quote:
Originally Posted by GGCO View Post
Another thing I think is worth mentioning is that if you're planning or even thinking about mentoring while in college, you really should sit down with the mentors of that team and discuss what they expect from you. Just saying, "I'll show up when I can make the time" can be a big (and unintended) disservice to that team who is counting on you fulfilling your agreement.

Anyone have any experience like this?
My team has dealt with this before. We have a set of mentors who show up to meetings on a fairly regular schedule. We also have a set of mentors (mostly college students) who will show up when they can to provide insight on whatever the problem of the day is. Mentors such as this (myself in the future) don't hold key positions and aren't given tasks that would require regular attendance.

But you make a very valid point that should really apply to all mentors regardless of attendance.
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Unread 29-08-2010, 23:38
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechkrunch View Post
One question that I haven't seen brought up in any of the other thread: Since the season take place in the spring, during most students 2nd semester of college, shouldn't they have time to adjust to college during the fall so they can do FIRST in the spring?
The best answer for this is the usual "sort of". The college I go to specifically assumes that kids aren't ready to go full speed when they start college because they are adjusting to it. Because of this, they try to put alot of easy classes in the first semester. If your college does this, don't plan for it to really compare to your spring semester as far as time commitment goes. If your class throws a bunch of weed out classes at you first semester, then you might be able to ignore this post. Even then, no two semesters are alike. Some will always be harder then others. If your determined to be a part of FIRST and have more control over your schedule then I do, you might be able to arrange for the Fall to be the harder semester then the Spring.

Hope this helps,
Jason
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Unread 29-08-2010, 23:44
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

There are lots of choices in college. The good new is that you can try different things and continue or change depending on how it goes.

2102 loves our college mentors. Both those from the community and returning team members. They and valuable and welcome on whatever schedule and commitment fits. We just reinforce that they are mentors now (not super members) so there role is support.

One thing to think about is how "teaching" new skills and knowledge can help reinforce and integrate new learning. So mentoring can help college students lock in and advance THEIR learning. It also gives you quick feedback on what, in your first career, were good decisions, and what, might have modified knowing what you recently learned.
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Unread 30-08-2010, 00:58
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Re: Doing FIRST in College

I'm probably going to end up saying few things in a lot of words. Fair warning. The succinct version is the obvious conclusion: Listen to JVN.

I was going to be the exception to the rule. I read that thread someone linked to. I knew that wouldn't be me. I'd already taken 2 college classes a year for two years. I was only on my team for a year, no one knows me as a real student anyway. FIRST couldn't get to me, I will do just fine.

Nope.

JVN's blog post is scarily accurate for my first year of college. While I didn't get a 13% on my Thermo midterm (that's next semester), to save my GPA I dropped below full load for a semester. That's a BIG DEAL, if you couldn't tell. You will potentially be faced with the choice between helping out a team of high schoolers and your own success, and you will face this choice before you even realize the consequences of your decision. I missed Calc classes, and didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late. I've been incredibly lucky with how some stuff worked out here, but I dodged a bullet and I KNOW it.

Yes, that "could be you". It will be you if you think it won't. I thought it wouldn't be me. I'm saying this bluntly and not dancing around the subject because you need to hear it. It happens before you notice.

At a time this year the leadership of the team I "mentored" was in question. At one time the thought in my mind was that I would take less of a load my sophomore year in order to better mentor that team. Read that sentence again. This is the kind of decision you will be immature enough to think is a good idea. If you're honestly mature enough to make these kind of decisions, you will do so well in college that you won't need this thread...

On mentoring your own team. This will not work. Honestly, I am painting with wide brush strokes, but it's true. You will not be able to teach and inspire people on the same level as a professional mentor. The mentors and students already know you. You can't just change hats and expect it to work. There's really not much more to it than that. If you have a problem with this, I'll try and elaborate more...

---

I feel it's important to note a few things that JVN didn't touch on directly, or at least in depth. Ask yourself at first why you want to mentor a robotics team. Mentoring, being a student... they're obviously not the same thing. Do you want to do it because you enjoy building a robot? Well, you're a mentor. Your job isn't primarily to build a robot. You have to want to be a robotics mentor because you want to MENTOR, not because you like the system you're mentoring in (though that helps!). If you TRULY see yourself wanting to use engineering to inspire students... then read everything I and JVN and everyone just said. But honestly, I think a lot of people that say they want to mentor in college, think about it before they even get there, and get ready to do that... I think a lot of you just want to be students some more, or "super students". There's plenty of programs for that. VRC has a College Challenge that's honestly really cool. Mini Baja. Formula SAE. Design / Build / Fly. (Fun fact: iCurtis and I go to the same college. He joined Design / Build / Fly instead of 2791, I did the opposite. He's graduating a year early, I have to hustle not to graduate a year late. I do not think this is a coincidence.) Anyway, my point is that I bet about 75% of FIRST students who want to be college mentors should really be doing cool stuff in college.

The other thing I feel should be said that wasn't mentioned is that you do kind of have a "trial period". First semester freshman year is far easier than the rest, yes, BUT (and I say this very carefully) you can use it to gauge how able you would be to handle FIRST. If you falter from a perfect record, with lots of free time and never skipping class because you don't feel like it, maybe you can give it a try. If you don't, you are asking for disaster no matter how many times you tell yourself second semester will be different.

If you are an idiot like I am, and decide to do it anyway, talk to the mentors on the team, or your advisor or trusted older friend at college. Have them watch for the warning signs, you skipping any classes or not studying for any tests. Have them let you know it's okay to miss a meeting; you can't be that important to the team as just a college student. If I set this up sooner rather than later, I would have done just fine mentoring Shaker.

All of this being said, I fully plan to mentor 2791 again. Maybe this time I'll actually know enough to teach them something. But I'm not naive enough to think that I should skip classes for them, or that my role on the team is more important than a successful academic career. At least, I tell myself that now... I told myself that last semester too.
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