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#1
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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I treated it like any other organization. I stayed involved in scouting (even joined a group for scouting at the college level), I joined the marching band at WVU, and I stayed involved in FIRST. It's just like joining any other organization at the university. However, I know a lot of FIRST mentors that have said the same. Some folks do really well mentoring FIRST in the freshman year. Some don't. It depends on the situation, and the person. But I know personally and for many of my friends that are college mentors, we know that we would have been lost without FIRST, and we wouldn't really be able to stay away anyway. ... You can grow, learn, and expand while also being involved in FIRST. |
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#2
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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#3
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
^^ reported
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#4
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
If your free and it's close, a great way to help FIRST is to volunteer for a FIRST regional.
While mentoring is a great way to help one team, perhaps you want to make a bigger impact with FIRST by starting a club in your college that could provide seminars to many teams. ![]() |
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#5
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
I would love some advice on this - I am a senior in high school with graduation right around the corner, and I am still working out college plans. At the same time, I do not want to fall out of the FIRST community during college, as joining was the best thing ever to happen to me. I wouldn't know what I want my future to look like if I had never joined FIRST. It's incredibly important to me to stay actively involved, but I have come to the realisation that I need some help and advice on how best to do this while still working and getting through school with decent marks, without completely working myself to death.
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#6
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
I mentor a team at UVA, and it definitely takes a lot of time. A good alternative to directly mentoring is staying in contact with your old team or volunteering at events. Feel free to PM me about how to reach a good balance between mentoring and studying, especially if you'll be in Charlottesville next year!
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#7
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
My situation may be a unique case, but I don't think it has to be. When I graduated and moved on to college I founded a university level robotics team called Bison Robotics. The organization is made up of FIRST alum as well as people who regret not doing FIRST in high school.
Within Bison Robotics we participate in collegiate robotics competitions, as well as mentor/volunteer within FIRST. This year we've had 35 different members volunteer at at least 1 FRC event. As the person coordinating all of them (in correspondence with Minnesota's Volunteer Coordinator) I can say that there are little to no regrets on the part of the volunteers. They love it. Part of the reason we're able to volunteer is because we have a semi-established organization that allows students to be excused from their classes. We also build in support for students who miss class by working together, and learning from each other. A lesser number of us work with FRC teams (usually the team we graduated from) during the build season. It's a lot to manage, but nothing that a dedicated FIRST alum can't handle. As one of the people who does mentor from Bison Robotics, I can say that it has been a massively positive experience. Bison Robotics also participates in Ri3D which is another incredibly fun event. It really keeps you connected with the FIRST community, and your efforts inspire thousands. It's a really cool thing to be a part of. As I said, my situation may be unique, but it definitely doesn't have to be. If you're going to a university that has no robotics organization, I reccomend starting one. I am more than willing to help. Starting Bison Robotics was the greatest decision of my life and I have no regrets. *disclaimer: When we have a student who signs up to volunteer, and they come to the realization that it's too much, it's not a big deal at all. Being responsible and letting the volunteer coordinator know the situation asap is critical. Last edited by Ginger Power : 15-03-2016 at 12:13. |
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#8
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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) or, if I am accepted, I may go straight into Virginia Tech. I've been recently working out some personal issues that have been affecting my school, and I'm still trying to decide what I would prefer to do. There is a good chance/rumoured confirmation that my high school will be starting an FRC team. It's kind of a complicated situation with that, but to nutshell it, I moved away from my old FRC team last March and the only FIRST team in and reasonably close to Roanoke was an FTC team, so I joined that. If my school starts a team, I definitely want to help them get on their feet, but, again, I will need help managing the schedule. I have a bad habit of overestimating my abilities and burning myself out. Any advice with my college plan would also be greatly appreciated. I have been considering possibly helping with the team as a FIRST Alumni, without being a completely devoted mentor. Would that be unreasonable? Thanks for the help. |
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#9
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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If your school ends up starting a team, I'd suggest you act more as an alumni adviser instead of somebody leading it up, at least until you're more certain on how much free time you'll have. I've definitely been able to be more involved with 619 this year than I was last year now that I'm more settled in here. |
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#10
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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Again, I'm still working out college plans. It's going to depend largely on how things go between now and graduation, and of course whether or not I get accepted to attend VT. Even if I do, I may still choose to go to a community college - the one in my area has a great system where graduates from my county get free tuition, and they have a guaranteed admission to Virginia public universities program. (Did that sentence make sense? I think it did.) I would end up doing their guaranteed admission to Tech program and transfer to VT for my junior year. |
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#11
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
As a general comment, I believe college students should always pick a non-academic activity to get involved in at school. It is the best way to meet others and be able to become more well rounded. FIRST is a good activity, especially if you can recruit other students to join you. Be sure however to decide what you can commit to. Remember that you don't need to be "all in" to still be helpful to a team. And even more importantly remember that you are no longer "doing" but rather "advising" or some flavor of that. That said, when I hear someone suggest dropping out entirely to focus solely on academics, I strongly object and feel that they don't have a truly realistic view of what you can do in college. This may be one of the most memorable periods of your life so enjoy it as best you can.
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#12
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
As someone who is a current junior in college, and spent the first 2.5 years starting and running an FRC team, I'd recommend against it. FRC will be there when you graduate. There are so, so many things that won't be. Take college to experience the things that you will only have a chance to experience while you're in college.
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#13
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
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#14
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
April,
I hope you can find an answer in all the responses. Let me talk as a senior mentor and parent for a little while. You have some issues that you need to prioritize. School and family come way before FIRST and other fun items. Take care of the important items first. You will be a great mentor if you can get your life straight and get the education you want to get. Then come back to FIRST when and if you can. Let it be a reward for your hard work at school. In your area, you could easily volunteer for a simple position if you can take time away from your studies. As you get your life organized, you might be able to take on more roles like mentoring a team or working with FLL. However, we all want you to develop the skills you need for the rest or your life. Don't let FIRST get in the way of life. Let FIRST be an extension of your life when you are able. It will be better for you and for the people you will work with. I would rather not see you for four or five years and know that your are being successful at school then to see you at every event and know you are struggling. |
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#15
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Re: Attn: Present & Future College Students, Think carefully before you mentor
Long time no post fam.
Hope all is well with yours. I've been going through a lot of changes and challenges, but nothing that I haven't been prepared for. Which leads me to my point I like to remind people of: try expanding outside of FIRST in college. FIRST has set me up for some amazing things in my life, and those things have lead to even bigger and better things. Build upon what you have and move on. Come back when you are ready. Come back when there's something new to add. The magician Brian Brushwood posted a great story in 2009 of him talking to Teller of Penn & Teller in how to advance in the world of magic. Teller said this: Quote:
I came back to this topic and CD today for two reasons: some jerk named Conor Ryan posted something FIRST related on FB and I saw it. I was in Conor's wedding last year. And every day for the past decade I've talked daily to this thread's creator, DJ Fluck, someone I consider one of my closest and best friends. Last summer I took over chapter advisor duties for the Phi Kappa Psi colony at Kent State University. I wouldn't be in this position of molding young men and helping change that university if it wasn't for FIRST. Yet I also wouldn't have their respect, brotherhood, and love if I didn't leave FIRST. Yet I took six years between my graduating Dayton and mentoring a chapter; you do need time off. Please consider my advice. FIRST won't leave. I love everything I received from FIRST and everything I accomplished after I left. Please don't limit yourselves. Last edited by Joe Matt : 10-01-2017 at 21:04. |
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