Care and Feeding of FIRST students, mentors and volunteers

[n3rdchik]

With only 9 days until FRC kickoff, I want to take a few minutes to remind people to care for the slab of electrified fat driving around in an organic mech (aka your brain and body). I know almost every one of you is over-scheduled with work, school, athletics, music, activities and of course ROBOTICS. Please take a few minutes before kickoff and plan how you will care for yourself.

If you are not already in athletics, do you exercise regularly? Do you do a stretch break or walk between long hours in the shop? Movement helps mood, creativity, and keeps you going. Every bit helps. I am going in late every Saturday morning to squeeze in my favorite weightlifting class. (I’m a mentor and already made arrangements.)

Peruse your pantry and make a list of healthy snacks you might already have or might need to pick up. I will be making a Costco run for jerky, granola bars, and oatmeal. Anything to counteract my urge for concentrated sugars. I also am going to stock my freezer and pantry with easy meals to make or reheat to avoid calling for pizza or fast food. (By last season, I couldn’t stand eat anything with lunch meat or pizza.). Look at some menus and decide in advance what you will order if even simple meals are too much.

Caffeine is a popular drug and there have been lots of discussion about the side effects, and “Energy Drinks” have a lot of that AND sugar. I have a coffee addiction, my goal is not to make it worse. I’m splurging on a water bottle, a case of my favorite fizzy waters, and some yummy teas.

There is a lot of crud floating out there - RSV, COVID, Influenza, and a few nasty colds. Make sure you are up on your shots (bivalent COVID, flu). If you aren’t already, consider masking up in public transportation, large groups, etc. WASH YOUR HANDS! If you do get sick, stay home! Don’t get your teammates sick. Take your meds as prescribed, consider a multivitamin

You get to build a new robot every year, but you only get one body.

What are you doing to stay healthy and take care of your meatsuit?

[AronRubin]

Oh no, I knew I was forgetting something important. At this point, I could be described as embracing my inner Wednesday. I know when I walk into the school, I have to be relentlessly positive even if I have been told my smile-through-frustration is terrifying. At the same time looking at the current careers of past mentees is a big boost. There is no question in my mind it is worth every second of my time.

[n3rdchik]

Totally! Every second! But make sure you are around for a lot of extra seconds! We could use that scary smile for lots more trips around the sun

[AronRubin]

Oh BTW feeding students is a great motivator. I will likely start bringing apples and popcorn again. I found that many students were skipping meals (for varied reasons) and making sure they are fed had an outsized impact. I think someone also mentioned health/hygiene products which I didn’t think of before.

The other thing is to make sure you give positive feedback whenever it is due. That goes all around for students, mentors, and volunteers. Small bits of progress are still progress and it is easy to forget to boost.

[ravenc83]

We have a ‘Danger Zone’ box (Archer was just released when we put it together the first time) that has travel deodorants, Pad/Tampons, and hotel soap bars. Sometimes a kid’s hygiene is a matter of forgetfulness and other times there are situations beyond their control.

[JimB1918]

My meatsuit is rebelling against me burning both ends of the candle for many, many weeks consecutively. Your reminders are good ones.

Lots of vitamin C and stuff helps. While Factor75 isn’t the cheapest “quick and easy” meals around, they certainly are convenient and tasty.