Hi!
I love robots. I got into them during my first work term, I was playing with this tiny line following robot called the 3pi, and around the same time I was watching the anime Robotics;Notes, and I was really inspired. I ended up making a name for myself with my friends and colleagues as the robot girl and now I get to work with this cool humanoid robot named NAO over the summer.
I really recommend robotics as a hobby! It's a mix of so many things, mechanics, electronics, and programming; and you really gain an understanding of the technology that's intertwined with our daily lives now.
Do you know what sort of things the robotics club or program you're looking at does? Make sure the program is what you think it is. There are all sorts of different types of robots and the program you're looking at might be building one that maybe you're not so interested in, or it might not be at the level you need. See what kind of robots they focus on. The program offered where I live focuses on underwater ROVs (remote operated vehicles) because there is a lot of offshore oil.
My other recommendation, especially if you're not too familiar with programming is don't give up. Things sometimes don't work because you've got one silly letter in the wrong place. Computers are finicky and can't figure out what you meant if you typo something, and sometimes what you think will work ends up with a completely different result. It can take a while to finally get it right.
I'm not sure what they'd expect from you. I don't think they would expect much from a beginner, other than a willingness to learn. you have to learn a little bit of everything to build a robot, and it takes time to do that. You've got to learn a bit to get there, and experiment, but when something that you built yourself moves based on what you told it to do in code you wrote yourself, it's a great feeling.
Another way you can get into robots is to look up your local hackerspace, which are places full of resources and people willing to help you learn about hobby electronics and making all sorts of things.
http://hackerspaces....f_Hacker_Spaces