If you are an alumni, how have you dealt with leaving FIRST?
I know some go out and mentor or volunteer, but that will not be a possibility for me as my school is in the middle of nowhere, in a state with only 3 teams. I still keep in contact with former team members and it’s been pretty hard for me. There is a mixture of regret and longing. I sometimes feel as if I did not do enough for the team, and the regret of not joining my freshman year. I try to fill the void in my heart with other projects like my school’s satellite project and the micro mouse competition. They don’t quite do it for me.
FIRST has been a remarkable experience for me and I really miss it. What tops it all off is the relationships formed and the inspiration to do something much bigger is what I got out the most from the program.
FIRST is pretty unique in terms among project-based learning experiences at the high school level and beyond. The intensity of FRC build and competition seasons is incredible and can be habit-forming!
You can try to do some mentoring at a distance via e-mail, Skype, etc. and become a very valuable member to a team (particularly a rookie team in the “middle of nowhere”). If you can manage the time and travel, you can volunteer for a regional or district event. Robot inspectors get to meet with student team members and can offer advice to teams struggling with software, controls, etc. You might be very helpful to teams by posting advice for teams having issues right here in Chief Delphi!
If you don’t have time now, you can return to the program later. It maybe better for you to focus on your studies the first year or two in college. You might find some subjects (and projects) require the same focus and intensity you developed in FIRST. Several Team 980 “graduates” moved right into college project team leadership roles because their FRC experience taught them how to get things done.
The best thing to do is use what you learned in FRC to advance your career. If you cannot connect with a team or event now, there will be opportunity in the future to give back to the program as a mentor, volunteer and/or sponsor. I haven’t yet found an exit strategy for FIRST, but a little time off can be good for you.
Although different than being part of a team, there are lots of opportunities to volunteer at events. FRC! FTC! FLL (we have so many qualifiers here going on soon that need volunteers and probably the same in a neighborhood near you)!
They are fun. And you will see the I word all around you.
I agree wholeheartedly with this suggestion. Take a year off from strong involvement with FIRST, and let yourself get acclimated to the college environment. I firmly believe that you’ll be much better off if you concentrate on new things instead of trying to stay too connected with your high school activities.
Then, after you’ve found your new groove, you can bring your expanded experience to FIRST as a more effective volunteer.
FRC is very good for HS level students, but a good SAE challenge is a couple steps of intensity above FRC in every way and is better suited to a college student’s abilities and expectations. They are good ways to develop professional skills and relationships in a broader range of fields.
For example: in Formula SAE you will have to defend design decisions to a group of judges during the design review; the cost report documents the entire build of a car, down to every nut and bolt, and you have to defend cost assessments to another judge; then, instead of driving a robot for a sum total of 20-40 minutes 2 minutes at a time, you and your co-drivers have to each drive an honest-to-goodness race car for up to 30 minutes at a time.
TL;DR
Do an SAE or other professional organization challenge (AIChE Chem-E car, IEEE competitions, concrete canoe, steel bridge building, etc) that’s more suited to your developing skill level and forces you out of your comfort zone. I did, and I am a much more capable engineer for it.
I agree with lots of the ideas mentioned here. There are so many opportunities to help out with our addiction to being connected. We have the internet and phones both can help out a far away team in need. Though video calls you can see what they are having issues with and help identify the issue and possibly walk them through it. If your not technical you can have teams send you their drafts of documents and you can proofread them and help with edits.
Another great option would be find a group of interested friends and road trip to an event to volunteer.
Or even get an FRC/FTC/FLL/JFLL started near you so you can help mentor them. Although it can be a challenge to help a rookie team while in college. You would really need to be able to balance your time wisely and not fall behind on school work for this to be a good option for you.
In my brief period where I was 2.5 hours away from my team I helped out over the phone a lot. I also went home almost every weekend during build and helped out at other FLL events and the FRC Regional(I run our FLL demo section in it every year).
Orrrrr you could start a C.A.R.D. team at your college. A former C.E.O. from our team started one at Steven’s University with a bunch of alumni from our team and a few others in the area. http://collegiateaerialrobotics.org/
I’m personally involved with the AUVSI Aerial Robotics Competition which is incredibly awesome and challenging.
I must say though - the robot is just one part of what makes FIRST so special. And it’s for the countless other reasons that I plan to continue being involved.
One of the best things about being involved in FIRST is the tools it gives you to succeed in other areas as you grow. College is a great place that allows you to really follow your passions and really delve into what you would like to do when you grow up. You’ve already experienced FIRST as a student and there are years ahead of you to experience it as a mentor, so take the time you have right now to explore what college REALLY has to offer you. Get involved in some of the programs others have suggested and share the things you learned from the program with other’s who weren’t fortunate enough to have FIRST at their schools. The lessons you learned in FIRST can serve as a guide to you and your new friends in your future endeavors. Then you can take what you learned doing those new things and bring them back to students in the future and mentor them.
6 years ago I was in the same boat as you, I went from being on a team that demanded hours of my attention and encapsulated a lot of my life to being a full time college student with a ton of seemingly extra time. Rather than going to WildStang meetings and mentoring I became involved in my college. Now I can not only say that I won a Championship, a CCA, and wrote a WFA award, but started intercollegiate lobbying efforts, organized several key student projects for the Olympic Bid, and was Vice President of Student Government. All of which I am incredibly proud of and have helped shape where the college and City of Chicago are today. I couldn’t have done any of this without what I learned in FIRST, but I couldn’t properly inspire other students to achieve what I did in school without branching out. Try something new, be daring, be what FIRST taught you to be and change the world around you.
David,
We know you have a lot to share but right now we need you to get through school. The things you will learn will help you in whatever path you choose, post college. We have watched many students struggle with these issues over the years and many succeed in other areas that don’t compromise studies (See Kelli’s post above, a true success story). If FIRST events coincide with school breaks then volunteer or at least stop in and visit. Our greatest reward will come from knowing you are doing well in school and finding something you can be happy with for the rest of your life. If you get a little homesick, please contact one of us. We really want you to do well.