Celebrating the Mentors Who Shaped Us

Competition Thanks and/or Congrats
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As I start my third year of college mentoring, I often find myself reflecting on the ‘why’. Why do I keep coming back, year after year? It always leads me back to the mentors that inspired me. Whether that be as a student or those who have supported me throughout my mentoring journey. These mentors guided me through tough seasons and profoundly changed my life’s trajectory for the better. Their impact on our experiences in FRC often goes far beyond the world of FRC.

I’d love to hear your stories about the mentors who inspired you! What made them special? How did they influence your life for the better? Let’s honor the countless hours, and often years, they’ve dedicated to our programs by sharing the moments that made a difference.

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One mentor who stands out among the many amazing ones I’ve interacted with is @Tostadinator. What made him truly remarkable wasn’t so much what he said, but the quiet, constant actions he took to support me. I struggled a lot in high school, starting off in the lowest math class available, and felt like I was always playing catch-up. I began to notice that certain teachers seemed to give me extra chances, and little nudges of encouragement to learn. It was like there were breadcrumbs leading me to the realization that Toast was behind the scenes, constantly watching my grades and advocating for me in those closed-door meetings. Some teachers would even tell me directly how highly he spoke of me and how he wouldn’t give up on me. Whenever I asked him about it, he would always respond in a relaxed way, saying it was no big deal, and then quickly shift the focus back to what we needed to accomplish in robotics that day. As a mentor he was always there, constantly making sure that I was seen, heard, and given the opportunity to succeed. He never asked for recognition or thanks, he just did it because he believed in me, and that made all the difference.

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It’s not the robots, or the trips, or little pieces of metal with a ribbon, or even the people, cool as that list is. No single thing, person or experience wins out.

The journey is the array of life lessons - extremely difficult to quantify. Sure, many of these have stories that I have long since forgotten the details of, but the stories are not the important part.

Something something using robots to build people.

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Scott Tupper :saluting_face:
Ken Sterk @kaliken :saluting_face:
Ron Lee :saluting_face:
Eric Chumbley :saluting_face:

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I’ve got two specific former mentors that I would personally like to shout out from my time as a student on Team 4329.

The first is @Ryan_Dognaux. Becoming a mentor on 4329 shortly after our rookie year, and being a FIRST Alum himself, he provided endless insight into the inner workings of FIRST Robotics to the team, which will forever be valuable. He helped bridge the gap between the students, who were being exposed to STEM for the very first time, and the other mentors, who had the lived experience of working in STEM for a significant amount of time. But, most importantly, he acted as a mentor who was easy to talk to and relate to as a student, because he too had experienced all of the chaos that a robotics team can be as a student as well.

The second is Dave Zilz, one of our founding mentors. Dave unexpectedly passed in 2022. Dave had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the lives of numerous students, families, teachers, and other mentors in our community. To say that he had an impact on my life would certainly be an understatement. His unwavering motivation and uplifting demeanor were contagious. He embodied what it means to be a true mentor, both inside and outside of robotics. Dave wanted nothing more than to guide and support the students who participated in the team. He taught me (and many others) countless life lessons, and for that I cannot thank him enough. Dave is missed dearly, but his legacy lives on through the spirit of the Lutheran Roboteers.

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Yep, paging @Mike_RT here!

I know that I always struggled more than the other students on my team with software stuff, but Mike was always there to support me from the moment I joined freshmen year, to the moment I transferred to FRC 8230 in April 2024.

He has inspired me to put myself out there and try different things, even if I have to leave my comfort zone, and even if I have to fail at times. He has also inspired me to reevaluate how I treat other people, and has taught me important lessons I will use for the rest of my life.

Thank you for your dedication to FRC 620, Mike.

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As I reflect on my time with FRC 5987, two mentors stand out for the incredible influence they’ve had on my journey: @AriMB and @benjierex .
Ari, our technical mentor, has been a guiding force, always there with the right advice and the patience to help me understand complex challenges. His technical knowledge and commitment to the team have pushed me to become a better problem solver, and I’m truly grateful for the countless hours he’s spent mentoring us. Ari’s dedication has left a lasting impact not only on me but on the entire team, helping us reach new heights year after year.

Beni, a 2020 alumni of our team, was my helping mentor during my time as head of mechanics. His leadership and personal guidance were essential in my development both as a leader and a team member. Beni didn’t just help me with technical problems; he challenged me to think critically and take ownership of the role. His mentorship went beyond mechanics; he helped me grow into someone who could lead with confidence and resilience. I owe much of my success this past year to his consistent support and encouragement.

Together, Ari and Beni have made my FRC experience unforgettable, and I am incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to learn from them.

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I am anticipating a great thread. This is a wonderful idea!

One request I have is to not only list people’s CD usernames, but also their actual names. Let’s see these great mentors get the attention they deserve!

Andy B.

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@Ether was a huge influence on me as a student and proto-mentor. Wish he were still around.

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I’m going to take a step outside the “FRC Mentor” paradigm. While I wouldn’t call her a mentor, probably one of the biggst influences on me was my middle school social studies / english teacher.

She was a horrible teacher. She was emotional (she once through a phone book at a student), she played favorites (despite having a perfect presentation, she would give me an A- because she disliked me), and she was totally unreasonable (she would give us large assignments, due the next day, with no regard for anything else).

And yet - the challenge of living up to her totally unrealistic expectations pushed me far harder than I had ever been pushed before. I won’t say I rose to the challenge: I managed B’s and C’s in her class. But I think I learned more in her class than I did in most of the other classes in school. Because of her ridiculously hard tests, I learned to actually study. Because of her ruthless red pen, I learned a lot about proper grammar and writing. And because of her attitude “that’s not good enough, do it again” I learned how to compose ideas, paragraphs, and papers.

I can’t say I liked her, then or now, and I wouldn’t say I would want her as one of my kids teachers. But there was odd confluence of my development and her idiosyncracies that ended up pushing me to learn. I guess I have to at least thank her for that.

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I have a second mentor I would like to thank, and that is @andreipls, also known as Andrei.

Andrei, you were one of my favorite mentors on FRC 620, and you are one of the people that I remember most not that I am not on the team anymore. Like with Mike, you were also someone I was around a lot from the beginning of my FRC experience.

Because you were an FRC alum yourself, you always had stories to tell us from your own competition days, and you made sure that we understood the lessons you passed on to us from your own experience. One time I remember you doing this is when we were coming back from loading in our robot for the 2023 Alexandria Charged Up event. I remember sitting in the backseat and taking photos of the cars in the dark outside, and mentioning that I was worried about how the robot would do that weekend. Some teams were already doing pit scouting during load in that day, which only added to my anxiety.

You were sitting in the front seat, and you told me and the other students a personal anecdote about a similar situation when you were a student, and even though this happened a very long time ago, I still remember how I felt reassured after you spoke up that day.

Beyond just being a good mentor, I also am grateful for the amount of positive energy you bring to our team. At almost every meeting, you were making jokes or riding around on that scooter you liked, and sometimes when I had a long day at school, I felt better after just interacting with you in the workspace.

And still besides all of that, I remember all the ways you made FRC a positive experience for me. I remember you telling me I was doing a great job the first time I was volunteering at a competition. I remember you liking my messages when I posted a CD thread in the team slack. I remember the time you liked my reveal video and encouraged me to share it with others. These are the things that I want to replicate for my students if I ever become an FRC mentor myself one day.

I like so many things about my new team, but one thing they don’t have is you, and it’s going to be hard continuing with FRC while someone who was a cornerstone of my experience is not there.

I never really got to tell you this while I was on the team, so I’m just saying it now. Hope you see it. And if you do read this, tell Jack I say hi.

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I’ll give a shout out to one of them that stands out distinctly. Austin Ryan was the quiet, confident, but so far beyond just competent leader, that 7 years later I’ve yet to meet anyone without that same impression of him. He inspired through both his own knowledge and trust in his subordinates. So much so, that there are days I feel bad for falling as short of the example he set as i have at times.

Edit: After some thought I realized it was probably meant for FRC mentors. Guess that shows the impact that he had. I’ll leave this here on the off chance any of you get to meet him, or know him. If you do, there will be no doubt you met the right one.

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I have to ping @Peter_Cudmore here. For 15 years now, he has run 3543 tirelessly, being the one constant in the chaos of our team. He constantly keeps up his philosophy that “you do the work, I’m here to help”. That gives all the students on the team a lot of confidence, and now we have alumni that are returning to mentor in his same style, which is very nice to see. Long story short, Mr. Cudmore is a great mentor.

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Andy Wald.

Waldo was the reason I loved my time with the team as a student, and is the reason I’m back now as a mentor. He believed in the transformative power of FRC and the lessons that could be learned from going hands-on.

When I think about my time as a student, his compassion and humor are what stand out most to me. He was whip smart, dedicated, and never missed an opportunity to share.

I think it’s fair to say the decade from 2000-2010 WildStang helped pushed this entire activity forward - Andy and his fellow mentorship cadre back then were the true driving force in that momentum.

Andy was a 111 student, driver, mentor, and friend. His passing at far too young of an age continues to be a loss to the entire world.

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Charlie Baxter @BoilerMentor
Ben Martin @Ben_Martin
Logan Byers @Logan_Byers
Daniel Bravo

All were young college mentors when they mentored me. So, for all the younger mentors out there who sometimes might feel you don’t know enough or have enough experience, a) someone has to start somewhere and b) sometimes enthusiasm and support is better than knowing it all.

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Heh…

There’s a few great ones I’ve had the privilege of being close with in the last couple of years both on my team and not, and oh man, have they taught me things!

First of all, I would be incredibly remiss to not to give a shoutout to the former head mentor of my alum team. I’m not going to name him out of respect for what he’s requested of me, but he taught me a lot. He’s the one who’s given me good advice, stepped in when I was burning the candle on both ends my Sophomore year, and is a crucial part of why I am the person I am today. Thank you.

@flamingIce She may have never been my mentor on my actual team, but I can genuinely say she’s one of the greatest mentors to do it. She’s genuinely so inspiring, and she’s given me an idea of what I may want to do and who I want to be after I graduate high school. She’s been there for me through some massive highs and some major lows with a friendly smile and some great advice (even if it was something I didn’t want to hear at the time). She’s also the one who got me to realize that I might be actually not half bad at this awards and documentation thing. I’m glad to call her a friend, a mentor, and best of all, an inspiration.

@mangohighchew and the rest of 4444, Switchback’s mentors. They’re a fun group and I cannot be more grateful for them willing to entertain our group of students’s insane (within reason!) ideas and even funding them to boot. :sweat_smile: For MJ specifically, they’re part of the reason why I even managed to figure out that I’m actually Kai. And that’s something I will never not be forever grateful for. We’ve had our moments, but MJ has taught me a lot about what it means to be human. We’ve both messed up a lot, but it’s genuinely refreshing to have a mentor who’s willing to admit when they aren’t right and apologize. They’ve also taught me a lot about what it means to take a stand in this community and has had a huge hand in why I am the person I am today.

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234 in the 2000’s did a particularly good job developing alumni who went on to do pretty well for ourselves while staying connected to the program (Collin Fultz - FRC Director, Ryan Dognaux - ThriftyBot CEO, Brant Bowen - IRI VC, myself). Credit goes to the leadership team of Scott Ritchie @Scott_Ritchie, Chris Fultz @Chris_Fultz, Steve Wherry @Steve_Wherry, and Kevin Kelly.

One mentor on 234 who was particularly influential for me was Dane Rogers, an Allison Transmission engineer, who was the mentor who first worked with me to develop subsystems from end-to-end. This was foundational for me in my personal FRC development.

He was a student one year ahead of me, but probably my most significant mentor in FRC was Brian Clegg @crazykid234. He recruited me into the program and was essentially my ‘I want to be like that guy’ person all through high school. We both subsequently graduated and mentored teams through Purdue FIRST Programs, where he was a great ‘mentor of a mentor’ to me as well.

Edit: additional note – all the 234 alumni I noted above are also Purdue alumni who were involved with Purdue FIRST Programs. We could get into another whole thread on the impact of that program.

Edit 2: Of course mentors have mentors even beyond college, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I learned a ton from Donnie Krtanjek @krtanjek as I started my career.

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While the previous two people I’ve talked about are not in my life anymore, the following list of people I am in current contact with. You all have changed my life more than I can ever describe.

@Aidanrfraser

@pchild

@Nate_Laverdure

@JKerns

@mpatel19

@jamzDoge

@kingc95

@rafi

@danielbatmanj

And finally, thank you Mr. Tasselhof. You saved my life. That’s the kind of person I hope I can be one day.

@MrTasselhof

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Many. many years ago, I told my 2 favorite HS teachers (it was a team taught class so they were both together even a number of years after I graduated), “I don’t know whether to give you credit for what I’ve become or hold you responsible; I suspect it’s a little of both.”

We had a good laugh - they got it.

I feel like that’s the kind of relationships we have here as well.

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Dang it kai, talking about the mentors who inspired me first smh /j

FACTS. She’s also been a huge part of my FRC experience and I can’t thank her enough.

Again, I have nothing more to say here. My experience with MJ has been much the same and I am very thankful to them for everything she’s done for me. I’m so glad to see you both be friends again.

Finally, I must add @wygrangea to the list. She’s been a huge influence on my life, and I can’t thank her enough for all that she’s done for my team and PNW FRC at large. She’s been a guiding force for my career as a FRC, FTC and FLL volunteer and I cannot thank her enough.

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