Chapter 65 - The Young Mentor
Westbrook High introduced a new mentorship program pairing experienced robotics students with local middle school classes.
Alex volunteered immediately.
His first session included twelve seventh-grade students who had never entered a robotics lab before.
Some looked excited.
Others looked terrified.
One student quietly admitted,
"I don't think I'm smart enough for engineering."
Alex smiled.
"I said something very similar once."
The student looked surprised.
"You did?"
"I thought engineering meant always having the right answer."
He held up an early prototype from years ago.
"This didn't work."
He picked up another.
"Neither did this."
Soon the workbench filled with unsuccessful designs collected over several years.
Broken hinges.
Bent aluminum.
Printed parts that never fit together.
The students stared in amazement.
"You kept all of them?"
"I kept reminders."
"What kind?"
Alex smiled.
"That progress usually arrives wearing the disguise of failure."
The room became noticeably more relaxed.
Students stopped worrying about making perfect prototypes.
Instead, they focused on experimenting.
Emma organized a small design challenge using only cardboard, tape, rubber bands, and recycled plastic bottles.
Within forty-five minutes, every team presented a different assistive device.
None looked professional.
Several barely functioned.
Yet every group could explain what they had learned.
Coach Daniels quietly watched from the doorway.
After the session ended, he approached Alex.
"You know something?"
"What?"
"I don't think you're teaching engineering anymore."
Alex looked puzzled.
"What am I teaching?"
Coach smiled.
"Confidence."
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The answer stayed with Alex long after the students had gone home.
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