Rookie and totally confused

[engunneer]

hey smartypantz,

every freshman or first time FIRST student comes onto the team with little to no experience. The whole point is that you will get to learn how to do some new things. You can always talk to your mentor about any concerns you have, and if you are worried about messing something up, say so! Your whole team is there to support you. Start by watching the other members and seeing how they do things.

Pick a topic and just start learning. Volunteer yourself for being a rule-nerd and learn the rules front to back. Start by helping with the small things that are useful, like keeping people on task, or helping clean up at the end of the night.

You don't have to build a robot to be on a robot team. This isn't about the robot, it's about learning. If you want to help build the robot, find a senior and ask if you can start learning from them. Any senior who has been doing FRC for a few years should recognize that you need some guidance and help get you going.

Good luck!