Mentor Interview - 4085

Hi I’m Arcturus S. and I am a part of Team 4085, Technical Difficulties, from Reynoldsburg Ohio. I interviewed Aleyna Dragonette. Aleyna Dragonette is a coach and mentor of Robotics Team 4085, and former Central Project Manager of 4085. 

Q: How was your time on the robotics team?
A: It was something I never saw myself doing. I had no intentions of joining, until one of the coaches approached me and encouraged me to join. I fell in love with it, and it was one of my favorite parts of High School. It was an unexpected experience that I loved.

Q: What made you decide to come back as a mentor?
A: I wanted to be able to give back to the team that did so much for me. I know how much I appreciated my time on the team, and how much I appreciated my mentors and coaches, and I wanted to do that for the kids now. And because how fun it is, and I missed doing it.

Q: How has mentoring the team changed you as a person?
A: The biggest thing is because I work with elementary kids, it has taught me how to interact with high schoolers, and how to work with them. It has taught me patience, and how to balance pushing people to be their best, and letting them figure things out on their own.

Q: Would you recommend mentoring to other former robotics team members?
A: Yes, absolutely, it is a good way if you enjoyed robotics if you enjoyed robotics to get back involved and make a difference in your community, and you have valuable experience to bring as someone who was in it, and that is a different perspective from mentors who weren’t on a team.

Q: How has both being on the robotics team and mentoring one impacted you as a woman in STEM?
A: It helped me discover skills related to STEM I didn’t know I had before. As someone not pursuing a STEM career, it made me realize I have an impact on STEM, and I can encourage girls to continue being involved in STEM.
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Website: https://www.techdiff4085.org/
Instagram: ​https://www.instagram.com/techdiff4085/