Things you've picked up from your mentors.

[VexisDarksteele]

Hello again, Chief Delphi.

Watching the MSC webcast over the last couple of days has really made me take a trip down memory lane and think about things from a new perspective... Though I'm only a few years graduated from high school myself, I'm slowly beginning my journey on the path to becoming a mentor, and I'm realizing that a lot of the things I strive to do for my team came from the individuals who mentored me while I was a student member. And that idea just really struck me; the concept that some of the smallest gestures or words of encouragement from a single person can impact so many others for years to come.

One thing that really left an impact on me was an email sent by our Chairman's mentor of the time. Our team was young (it still is), we had only been in existence for 3 years when we won our first district Chairman's award. The three of us who presented were all founders of the team, we'd poured our hearts and souls into jump-starting this brand new team with the hopes that it would flourish for years to come. And for the three of us, that was also our senior year. It was make it or break it. And though we were very happy for the teams who won Chairman's at MSC that year, it did hurt to realize that all of our hard work, all of our sleepless nights and passion and excitement for growing FIRST combined still just wasn't good enough. I know that I, personally, was pretty crushed that day, even though we had still earned enough points to progress to St. Louis. I felt like I hadn't been good enough, like there was something I could've done differently to help my team earn that honor. And I think our Chairman's mentor picked up on that, because the very next morning, I awoke to an email from him telling all three of us how incredibly proud he was, and to not be discouraged because we didn't win. His words of praise and strength really helped me through that self-doubt, and made me see that we had done everything we could and that there was much we should be proud of in our last days as students.

Today, the cycle repeated itself almost exactly. Our team won Chairman's at the Gull Lake district again, but still wasn't quite strong enough to win one of the three positions at MSC. And remembering how I felt when that happened, I hit the 'Send' button on a similar email I have written to this year's presenters just about an hour ago. Tomorrow morning, they will wake up to the same thing I did 2 years ago. Everyone needs someone there to catch them when they fall, and because I had the luxury of being 'caught' by my mentor when I was spiraling, I felt this desire to do the same for the students I'm now helping.

So, fellow alumni, what are some of the things that your mentors did that really impacted you? Do you find yourself picking up some of those things for your own use? Why do you think the concept of a mentor is so important in helping to inspire and shape students for a more successful future?


Also, a big congrats to this year's MSC Chairman's winners; 503, 68, and 2137! You guys have certainly earned it!

--Vex

[Hot_Copper_Frog]

First, I wanted to say that over the course of this season, I’ve come to know the Flying Toasters as a top notch team. You all act like a team far beyond your years, and have achieved incredible things both on and off the field. Many went into this past weekend feeling like the Toasters were a strong contender for the Chairman’s Award, and I have little doubt that you’ll be competing for the award at a championship level in the very near future. So congratulations on all you have achieved so far, and I know Frog Force is looking forward to working with you all in the coming year.

I had the opportunity to work with so many great mentors while I was a student on the HOT team. There were three in particular that have stuck with me through the years:

• Walt Hickok was my chairman’s mentor for four years. He is quite possibly the most kind hearted and wise man that I have ever met. He taught me that FIRST is about so much more than robots, and that I had the ability to change people’s lives with my actions. He consistently stressed how important it is to help as many people as possible, and really instilled the concept of gracious professionalism into my work. I still think about Walt when I help students now, and wonder what he would do in any given situation. I wouldn’t be the mentor I am today without his influence.

• Lori Gleason was not only my mentor, by my chemistry teacher as well. I hated chemistry, but Mrs. Gleason made it about as bearable as it could have possibly been. She was my personal role model when it came to women in STEM, and she has such an unbridled passion for education that I have not yet seen matched. Whenever I was feeling discouraged or down, she was always there to prop me back up and tell me to keep going. She had a lot of faith in me when others didn’t, and I will always appreciate that. I can only hope to embody even a little bit of that enthusiasm as I continue on a mentorship path.

• Adam Freeman was the mentor that intimidated and inspired me more than any others. He’s an incredible engineer, and so very dedicated to FIRST and the students. He pushes everybody to be the best they can be, and holds high expectations of both himself and the team. I had the opportunity to work on scouting for several years on the HOT team, which meant that I interfaced with Adam for strategy meetings at competitions. Even though I was a chairman’s student, Adam listened to my input and trusted my decisions. It meant so much to me that an adult had faith in my decision-making and opinions, and it really helped me become confident in myself. This has carried over into my professional life – I have a lot of faith in my ability to make sound decisions and I trust my own conclusions. I strive to do the same with my students, and hopefully I can instill confidence and high self-esteem into them that last long past high school.

My mentors changed my life, and I will always be grateful to them. I’m not sure where I would be right now without FIRST and their influence, but I know it wouldn’t be as fulfilling as my life now. So thank you, not only to my mentors, but to all mentors. You do make a difference, and you are appreciated.

[VexisDarksteele]

Originally Posted by Hot_Copper_Frog

-Snipped to save space.-

Thank you for the words of praise; I am sure the team would be very delighted to hear them (and perhaps a few Toasters are even lurking CD right this moment). Frog Force and Plymouth Lightning have both been of tremendous help the past several years as we tried to get the ball rolling, and I don't quite know where we would be as a team without their guidance and friendship. I'm very grateful for everything they have done for us, and I know my team is as well. It's been a real treat for me watching our team this year, because it's really taken off since I (and the rest of the founders) graduated and it feels good knowing that we helped to set the building blocks, the foundation upon which they are now building and growing and changing.


Our Chairman's mentor (the one mentioned in the original post) was shared between us and 862; he's an alumni from Frog Force as well. He was a bit tough, always wanting and expecting more from us each week, but he taught us very well. His praise didn't come easy, but when you got it, you knew you had really done well. And I think this is why his email the morning after MSC really left an impact on me, because it told me that we had truly earned his praise. That was certainly an accomplishment!

As for other mentors that impacted me... I've gotta say, the most influential by far to me, personally, is our team's coach -- Ronald Weber. After the three years I knew him as a student and the two since, I've come to realize that he and I are almost scarily alike in so many ways. High school, in my first two years, was rough to say the least. Having been homeschooled all the way up to 9th grade, public education was a terrifying, broad new world for me. I had a lot of "down" moments during those two years, and at one point in my Sophomore year, I came so close to quitting the team and robotics altogether because I was frustrated, struggling, and scared. But when I told him that I was thinking of quitting, he looked me straight in the eyes and told me that I was one of the deciding factors that made him establish this FRC team that year. I was completely dumbfounded by that statement -- I mean, at that point, I'd only been a member for half a school year and through the entire OCCRA season. Yet he had so much faith in me and my abilities, along with the abilities of everyone else that joined that year, that he felt confident enough to enter a whole new level of competition. That trust, that faith on his part, is a lot of what built me up into who I am today. He's always been there for me and everyone else, he's always treated his students as equals. There were even times when he asked us for advice, which made all of us feel like our judgment and opinions were really valued and respected. Even now, I consider him one of the best friends I made in high school, and we still talk on a fairly regular basis about anything from robotics to college and life in general. He has a very unique perspective on everything, and proudly walks to the beat of his own drum. And as someone else who is pretty unconventional in many ways (such as being the only student to wear a bright blue pair of wings on her head on competition days, even through the half-day spent in class ), I admire his confidence and security in himself. He's definitely been the person who has left the biggest impact on my life from the team, and remains one of my personal heroes/role models.

[Dominick Ferone]

I think one big thing we have been trying to make our team understand is the fact of the matter is you need to plan out in detail and we pick apart their idea it isn't because we're necessarily against but you need to defend it and show what makes it the best. Show you know how it should be built and don't question your own design. Then if you can show it off with confidence then maybe it's something ready to be made and not just the first thing you had come to mind.

[VexisDarksteele]

Originally Posted by Dominick Ferone

I think one big thing we have been trying to make our team understand is the fact of the matter is you need to plan out in detail and we pick apart their idea it isn't because we're necessarily against but you need to defend it and show what makes it the best. Show you know how it should be built and don't question your own design. Then if you can show it off with confidence then maybe it's something ready to be made and not just the first thing you had come to mind.

Our team does something kind of similar with a visual prioritization system called Quality Function Deployment (or "House of Quality"). Immediately after Kickoff, we list the game's most important necessities on one side of the "house," and potential design features on the other side. Depending on how closely a design feature correlates with/satisfies the game requirements, that feature is then either discarded or chosen to be implemented in full-robot design drafts. When a student is presenting his or her robot design, each component of the design is compared to the results of the QFD to determine if it would be an effective robot for that year's scoring opportunities and physical challenges. If the student cannot justify the design based on the data of the QFD, the design isn't strong enough and either needs to be revised or discarded.

I'm kinda rusty on doing the QFD myself, so if you'd like a better explanation/visual aid for it, we've got a resource page dedicated to it on our website: http://www.theflyingtoasters.org/#!q...ployment/c1d6b

[Dominick Ferone]

Originally Posted by VexisDarksteele

I'm kinda rusty on doing the QFD myself, so if you'd like a better explanation/visual aid for it, we've got a resource page dedicated to it on our website: http://www.theflyingtoasters.org/#!q...ployment/c1d6b

Yea we used something like that we picked up from our engineering courses in college. But one thing i enjoy most is when the kids do argue designs because thats something i did as well to show hey you might be looking at this wrong so lets build and test.

[The other Gabe]

My team has been blessed with many fantastic mentors, many of whom have left the teams for other pursuits (one as the FIRSTWA Senior mentor and the mentor of a rookie all-girls team, another as the Volunteer coordinator of FIRSTWA, and another retired and is moving). The Woodie Flowers Award Winner for the PNW District is a founding mentor of the team and one of the adults who has really shown me the kind of person I want to be. These mentors, and many others, created and maintain with the help of students a culture within the team of excellence, both in the robot in the way that we act towards people. And with this has always come an expectation that it is the students that do the work; the mentors are happier when they dont have to do as much work (definitely not just laziness ), and we do what we want instead.

IDK if that's anything to do with what I've picked up but I wanted to opportunity to talk good about my mentors cuz they've been so awesome.

I picked up from the our scouting mentor a need to know exactly what every robot does in the event we are attending. there. I'm on topic now