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#1
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Re: FIRST after Highschool
i mentor my team right out of high school and since im in college and going for mechincal engineering i find it very helpful to keep mentoring for my team i learn something new in the field of engineering everyday. so i feel if ur going to be a engineering as a career u probraly should keep mentoring out of high school but thats just me.
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#2
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Re: FIRST after Highschool
Every situation is a little different, and to me, the fact that you are considering taking a break as a choice, means you probably should (IMO).
When I was graduating, it was nearly zero question in my mind that I would continue FIRST. I looked at several schools but of the ones that came out on top of my choices, only one, my #1 choice, didnt have a FIRST option... nor did I get in though (114/1800 applicants accepted at the time). Anyways, my goal in graduating high school was to try and inspire just one student the way I had been inspired... and for me, at the time, that meant joining an existing team (WPI, Daniel Webster, RPI, etc) or starting a new one. I chose the hard road because Clarkson seemed like the right fit for me, and it was exciting to have the chance to make a team what I thought it should be like. It was rough, my first semester I laid the foundation but also joined the Varsity Ski team and Honors program, between practice, homework and FIRST I had maybe one night a week worth of free time, I did get a 3.25 that semester. The next semester FIRST and skiing kicked in full gear and I pulled a 3.0, started to drop below the GPA for the honors program... Sophomore year got harder, classes hit, life stuff hit, plus I still had everything else... that first semester I got a 2.8, I was now below the honors program level & on "probation". Second semester hit and I buckled down hard, but kept involved in everything else and somehow squeeked out a 3.0... I spent the rest of my college career crawling back up to a 3.3. While I suggest not just studying & partying, get involved in something else - it helps with jobs, your first year may not be the year to kick in unless you are confident on your time management. I absolutely loved starting the Clarkson team, and really wouldnt have changed my decision for the world, but I know that it was hard, and I know that had managed my time even slightly less effectively, I wouldnt have pulled out of it. So my advice would be if you don't know in your heart that you HAVE to be on a FIRST team, or you doubt your time management skills, take a break, get to know yourself, have fun your first year of college, then decide if you want to go back, or wait until you are an engineer. There are several levels of it as well. We do have 3 students back as college mentors this year, two graduated last year, the other mentored last year. All are doing well with classes, but all three pretty much only come during build season, and when they have a few spare moments. None are in critical positions (dont lead subteams), they just help out where needed. This is a good way to get your FIRST fix, but also be able to get your work done as well. Remember Grades HAVE to come first... I see far too many kids think they can bomb their first year and dont realize how horribly that affects your GPA. My company wont even look at students without a 3.0 coming out of college, so the competition is stiff! Good luck!! |
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#3
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Re: FIRST after Highschool
After being on a team for 4 years in High School, I decided to explore some other things in college than just FIRST. I worked full time most of my college career, along with being involved in a sorority and other events. I kept up my FIRST involvement by volunteering at Off-Season & Regional events as to not lose touch with the competition but without a real responsibility outside of the competitions, as school was the most important thing to me.
Thanks to my focus on school, I was able to finish college in 3.5 years for my degree in Mechanical Engineering. I recently started at a large company that supports a FIRST robotics team in the area & will be looking at going back to a team to now mentor. I now feel I will be better fitted to mentor than I would have been in college as my obligations are different than they were in school since I don't have the worry of college work deadlines. You don't have to be on a team to be involved. Volunteers are greatly needed at many of the competitions. |
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#4
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Re: FIRST after Highschool
First of all, let me tell you how much I completely understand how you feel right now! I was the same way last year, thinking about it being my senior year and how I wasn't sure how FIRST would fit into my life down the road. My first (and probably best advice for you at the moment) is to live up your last year as a student. I tried to do that last year, but got caught up in the sadness of it being my last year. If you live it up, you'll be happier later on.
Right now, I am a student at Ball State University and currently a college mentor for Team 1720. I got into contact with the team before I selected my college, because I knew I still wanted to be involved with FIRST. So, you should research the college or town you will reside in after high school and see if there is a team there that you could work with. Then get in contact with the team and start asking about becoming a part of their team. In my experience, the team was very accepting and happy that I wanted to mentor, and greeted me with open arms. If you do end up joining a team, there are a few things you need to keep in mind: your primary concern should be school. Doing well in school is more important than mentoring a team. I used the first semester of college as my transition period. I attended a meeting here and there for robotics and helped out a little, but my main focus was the transition between high school and college. You'll get a good feel for college by the time kick off roles around. Now, I attend 3-4 meetings a week, giving myself enough time for both my schoolwork and my work as a mentor. And my team is very understanding that I'm a full time student and can't make it every day. I am also volunteering at the Midwest Regional in Chicago. What problems have I encountered? Well, at first I think I tried to bite off more than I could chew, so to say. I tried to throw myself into a mentor position as soon as I came to college without allowing time to transition. I realized this, took a step back, and then came back with an even greater for joining the team. Probably one of the hardest things for me to do was to realize that I was on a NEW team with a NEW role. I wasn't the student anymore. I'm helping mold the future. Like Katy said in this thread previously, it's not about you anymore. It's about what you can do for the students to help them grow. If you join a new team, they will have a different way of doing things. I started off saying, "Well, on my old team..," but now I realize that I am on a new team who already have their own identity. While I will always love Team Hammond (my previous team), I realized that it was time to move on, take what they taught me, and pass on my knowledge to others. It's hard to switch from putting everything you have into one team and then putting it into a completely new team, but it is necessary if you are going to be a successful mentor. That was probably the hardest part. It is all up to you, really. What worked for me or others may or may not work for you. You'll know what is right for you when the time comes to make a decision. And even if you take some time off of FIRST, you can be happy in knowing that FIRST will be waiting for your return... ![]() Last edited by Alivia : 12-01-2008 at 00:36. Reason: added more ideas. |
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