Team issues and difficulties?....(not just technical ones)

[KenWittlief]

On almost every team, and every year you will have at least one major emotional problem:

1. a student will get upset and quit the team

2. a mentor or parent advisor will get upset and quit the team

3. two students will fall in love - sometimes its great, and sometimes they have a falling out before the season is over, and then one or both dont want to be on the team anymore

4. students who have been best friends for years will have a falling out, and you will have a big mess on your hands.

Funny thing is, you can tell everyone on the team about this at your first meeting, and they all look at each other and say, "Yeah! right! not me!"

but this program is so intense and stressfull, that conflicts and emotions are bound to rise.

best advice I can give when things blow up on you is to sit everyone down and remember what this is all about. we are not here to build robots, or to win a contest, or to travel to cool places or to bring home trophies.

we are here to see what a career in engineering and science is like - anything else that happens along the way is frosting on the cake - so if someone else gets more frosting than you do, try not to be too upset.