By Miquel Torres
What does scouting mean to me? Scouting is more than a club or group that I belong to. Scouting isn't just something I can do in my free time. Scouting, in many ways, is a way of life; the values taught in the program have the ability to guide a person, such as myself, to a path of integrity and virtue. As the Scout Law states, "A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent." The Scout Law is an excellent guideline for young people, such as myself, to live by.
In spite of this, scouting is still an excellent social tool as well. I've met or grown closer to many good people through scouting, over the course of my several years in Cub and Boy Scouts. The camping, the meetings, they're all perfect for building friendship and trust among young people, and helping them to grow closer as people. The fact that camping represents something old, something unique, in that, in our technology filled world, there is an island of quiet where we, as young men, can sit and relax and work as a team, makes it a truly priceless addition to the program.
On that note, scouting also represents a sort of tranquility of the past. Before i-Pods and cell phones ruled the lives of young people like me, there was outdoor activities and playing outside of the house. Most young people still do play outside, but not nearly as much as the children of 60 years ago did. In scouting, we have an outlet, where we can go camping and be free, at least temporarily, of the outside world. It frees us to just be kids, instead of having the world's worries forced on us.
Of course, that doesn't mean that scouting is a free reign program where we do what we please. The organizational value of scouting is enormous; we learn leadership skills, responsibility to others, and other valuable skills for future jobs and life in general. In scouting,
we become, gradually, responsible for subordinates and are given tasks to complete in given time frames. This prepares us for future positions and roles where we must manage others.
We also learn responsibility, as we are given increasingly demanding tasks. Scouting is begun as a young boy, with little responsibility past self-betterment. As we increase in rank and standing, we must report to more experienced scouts, plan meetings, and organize events. We are also entrusted with guiding the younger scouts as they try to rank forward, as we did before them. This instills a sense of personal confidence in scouts, as we feel accomplished in directing all of this activity.
I also think scouting represents a sort of milestone for parents. At least within my troop, the control is predominantly in the hands of the scouts, instead of the adult leaders, whenever possible. This isn't to say that the adults aren't involved; however, it gives a structured sense of unity and how children and adults can work together as equals. At the same time, it provides a place of safety, where, if we, as children, do not perform an action correctly, an adult can easily step in and correct our mistake.
Now, for Philmont, I am looking forward to the opportunity to spend time with my friends. Unlike normal camping trips with the Boy Scouts, which last one to three days, Philmont will be two weeks of unbroken backpacking, hiking, and tenting with my friends and our parents, getting to know each other, and maybe even getting into shape. We will have lots of fun, I believe, and we will learn along the way.
The first, and really, last, part of Philmont, will be the trip there and back. Long road trips, even if by trains, are a great way to get to know each other, and have some memorable moments with our friends. It will be a time to have some fun, and to explore our friendships.
Once we get there, the truly trying parts will begin. If not already, we will have to learn to operate quickly and efficiently as a group and trust each other to do our jobs. We will have to rise early, sleep late, and get used to hiking dozens of miles in a single day. This will likely be emotionally trying, but I'm sure we will adapt to it as a group, as we go along. This will build bonds of hopefully unbreakable friendship, as we remember later the relative hardship we went through to reach the summit of the main mountain goal of the hike.
When we reach the actual mount, I'm sure it will confirm our ability to achieve our goals and work as a true group. With this in mind, it will also likely be a sad time, when we realize our journey is already almost over. At the same time, it will be cause for celebration, as the main goal of the trip will have been achieved.
As our trip winds down, and we scale back down the mountain, back to the base camp, and back towards civilization, it will be cause for deep thought. After all, we will be going from a life of glass, metal, and technology, to an untouched swath of land. Then, after the mount, we will be heading back to our civilization, just as soon as we arrived. We will have two weeks of experiencing what our ancestors experienced, when the United States was but a loose group of cities with great areas of outdoors between them.
And on the train ride back, I wonder, what will my friends be thinking about? What will I think about? Will we note the awe we should be in after going to such a marvelous, ancient place? Or will we only think of home, of the family and friends left behind who we may see again soon? Either would be acceptable, as I believe they're both what Philmont is about: making you appreciate what the world truly is, and making you appreciate the world as you know it.
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