What Do You Wish You Would Have Known Your Rookie Year?

[Renee Becker-Blau]

You don't have to do everything at once. You can check the team out, see what interests you, find out what doesn't and go on from there.

Join Chief Delphi early on, it really helps you get involved with the FIRST family.

Don't be afraid to ask questions or talk to people at FIRST events, I've met some of my best friends that way.

The more outgoing you are the more fun you tend to have, don't be shy ^_^

Find out the websites that would really help you learn about FIRST teams like The Blue Alliance or FIRSTwiki and learn the history of FIRST robotics so you can reference things in the future.

Mentors are amazing people and they put a lot of personal time into the teams, remember to thank them for that.

Dressing up and cheering for your team is a lot of fun.

[kramarczyk]

FIRST is an incredibly addictive experience for which there is no 12 step program.

[sgreco]

Originally Posted by dlavery

Adam gets it. My previous comment was quite serious.

What would I tell a rookie? Learn to swim.

Figure out what you have to do to keep your head above water. When you hit the start of FRC build season, you will likely feel like you are drowning in new information, ideas, people to know, things to do, things to learn, and even team politics. Many forces will conspire to overwhelm you with a sea of demands on all your available time.

As a rookie, the very first thing that you have to do find out how to navigate through all this new stuff. Find someone that knows how to swim through it already. Follow them. Watch what they do. Figure out what works. Learn how they differentiate between what is important, and the meaningless drivel that is mixed in. Learn to swim with them. And don't be afraid to ask for help and advice; your team mates can be life-savers when the last week of build season hits, and the robot still has four weeks worth of work to be done and there are thirty pounds to carve off and you have been running on 90 minutes of sleep for the past four days and you feel like you are about to go down for the third time. Think of your experienced team mates as your swimming instructors, and your mentors as your life guards.

If you do, you will learn to survive and float through the tough times during the build season and the competitions (and there will be some). If you don't, it will be like trying to doggy-paddle in a heavy surf - you won't make much progress, and you will quickly tire of the whole adventure.

-dave



.

Teaching a person to swim is one thing...

But a robot....?

That's something else....

[IKE]

Is Dave hinting about H20N09? That would really give the rookies a leg up.

Back to the real thread, have a well planned strong team theme/identity. Make sure your theme is solid from name, robot, pit, to uniforms. This will help with sponsorship and being remembered during alliance selection among many other things.

Oh, and this one is for CHET, BIG NUMBERS that can be read from the stands. The only way they can be too big is if someone from RUSH 27 comes up and says they are too big.

[Kims Robot]

You know the funny thing... I think I have answered this question before... and certainly in plenty of detail.

But the more I think back... I think I would now change my answer to "Absolutely NOTHING".

The reason being is that the rookie year is so much fun, its crazy, its hectic, its full of twists, turns and suprises... but honestly its the struggles and the triumphs of that year, of learning it all on our own, that made it so sweet. I wouldn't change or trade any of my three rookie years (3 different teams) or the knowledge we didnt have, for the world. Successful or not, they were by far the most fun and perhaps even the sweetest years of the teams I have been on.

And I think Steve Jobs nailed exactly why in a speech he made when talking about being fired from Apple and starting all over again:

The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

[Andrew Schreiber]

1. If you are stuck doing what you consider a meaningless job, like scouting, don't complain. Always do things to the best of your ability, doing this will give them meaning.

2. If you aren't enjoying yourself (safely and responsibly) you probably are doing something wrong. This does not mean don't do your work. It means enjoy your work (see above)

3. Coopertition. FIRST is not about beating your opponent. It is about competing like crazy and then collaborating like crazy.

4. Bad things happen, if your robot breaks it breaks, don't get angry. Try your best to fix it.

5. Ask for help. (not just for rookies)

6. We are all equal. Yeah there are some smart people in FIRST. Don't be intimidated.

7. Just because you are in 35th place out of 35 teams do not get discouraged. You are competing against teams that have been doing this longer than you.

8. There will be no water game. Game hints from Dave Lavery can be ignored. Anything else I advise you to listen to. (If for no other reason than you need a good chuckle)

By the way, veteran teams don't know it all. FIRST changes every year and we all just hope we are right.

[Mike Wittman]

This is a great thread. All Rookies should read. Here is my 4 sense.

1. Believe in Gracious Professionalism. I thought I understood what it ment and what it was, then my team was on the receiving end of GP. That is when I really got it. I would not think twice about helping another team in need.

2. If you don't have a mentor team, find one. Your rookie year is more chaotic than the rest because you are experiencing everything for the FIRST time. A mentor team will guide you through that chaos.

3. Mentors are there to help you. They want you to succeed. Use them and enjoy them.

4. Never underestimate the value of great team moms. My team might never eat if it weren't for them.

[zachjo]

if it works already, don't change it

[rhoads2234]

Have fun!
Ask for help, but try first and don't let the mentors(or more experienced students) do everything.
Have pride in what you achieved. Building a 120 lb robot in 6 weeks is amazing!
Smile! It makes everything seem better.
Accept help - You might be able to do it on your own but 2 heads are better than one and it makes in more fun.

These tips are for everyone!

[samir13k]

i learned always clean off your pwm ports before competition, and Don't blame the programmers, it's usually not their fault! (at least not on our team!)
Unfortunately, they are usually the first to get blamed for malfunctions!

[ComradeNikolai]

Originally Posted by samir13k

Don't blame the programmers, it's usually not their fault! (at least not on our team!)
Unfortunately, they are usually the first to get blamed for malfunctions!

That reminds me, rookie programmers: learn that it is always your fault, or that's what they want you to believe ("they" being the rest of your team). You were supposed to account for everything in the code... even mechanical failures or electrical problems. Yay.

[Chris Dunning]

well, my rookie year was this year (07 - 08). and the main thing that i wish i could of actualy known of the people's creativity. looking back on build season, i had some great ideas. and me, being the shy dude i am, i kept quiet. when we went to our first comp, i saw most of my ideas in real life. basically, i learned that there isnt any idea that's a bad idea.

[Dolan]

I wish I would have known when to shut up and work because I now know how mad it makes me as an upperclassmen when the freshmen don`t do anything but talk when you tell them to do something.

[smurfgirl]

I actually had a really awesome rookie year. My team was great and the mentors and experienced students helped me figure out everything I needed to know. I wish that I had known about it my freshman year. I guess I also wish I had joined Chief Delphi my rookie year since it is such a great resource.

[samir13k]

Originally Posted by ComradeNikolai

That reminds me, rookie programmers: learn that it is always your fault, or that's what they want you to believe ("they" being the rest of your team). You were supposed to account for everything in the code... even mechanical failures or electrical problems. Yay.

Oh Man! i'm a rookie programmer for 2009! I hope labview has a "troubleshooting things that are mechanical failures and have to be accounted for in your programming" tutorial!

Is there anaything else I should know??? I became the lead webmaster, lead electrician, and the assistant programmer for the 2009 season. and then i will be the lead programmer for 2010! Is there a way i am supposed to take all the blame that will be coming at me??? lol