For him, Scouting became much more than earning ranks or chasing adventure. Through leadership, lifelong friendships, family memories, and a passion for developing future leaders through NYLT, Scouting shaped who he is—and continues to inspire why he stays involved today.
Leading The Way: From Tiger to Teacher
I believe in the power and necessity of Scouting because I see firsthand the effect it has on my life and feel obligated to share the impact with others. Starting as a Tiger Scout advancing to my Arrow of Light to my Eagle Scout rank to my experiences post Eagle Scout such as venturing and staffing National Youth Leadership Training, I see how I have changed over the years and can directly tie most of the changes to the positive impact of Scouting.
Many of the merit badges I completed in my troop, like Communication, Personal Management, and Photography, fostered a firm base for success in creating and running my own media company as a student in high school. Others, such as Citizenship in the Community, Personal Fitness, and Family Life, help keep me grounded and maintain a proper and efficient work-life balance with family and friends.
A Safe Place to Learn Leadership
Aside from the set curriculum of working towards rank advancement, the experiences of Scouting taught me many lessons as well. Serving as Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 713 and Venturing Crew President forced me to learn time management between planning meetings, going on campouts, and leading my Patrol Leaders Council while juggling with school, sports, clubs, socializing, and family. I received the privilege to learn these lessons in a safe place to fail.
Whenever I messed up, my adult leaders who watched from the sidelines and guided me when appropriate helped direct me back towards a positive direction and challenged me to think critically for myself. These lessons and skills continued into high school, where I applied the communication and leadership skills learned at both the unit level and National Youth Leadership Training in my school life, serving as Editor-in-Chief of our school newspaper, President of our student section, serving as a social media correspondent for our athletics page, running my media company, serving in a variety of service organizations, and still maintaining several honors, dual-credit, and AP courses graduating Magna Cum Laude.
Experiences You Can’t Put On A Resume
I learned these lessons while also creating fantastic memories, getting to do unique activities and summer camps and merit badges, seeing unparalleled sights on campgrounds and roads travelled, and growing in my relationships with others. I have the honor of staffing National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) nine times, and I stay in contact with the people who I participated with and staffed with the early times just as much as I talk to the staffers from this past session. Everyone knows each other and everyone is willing to help each other, and while I never would have crossed their paths outside of scouting due to different interests, involvements, and locations, I am proud to call them my friends outside of scouting.
The mentoring I received from these leaders is unmatched to anywhere else I experienced. The relationship that means the most to me, however, in my scouting involvement is with my dad. He served as a den leader, Cubmaster, Scoutmaster, Crew Advisor, and one of my NYLT Course Directors, and I cherish every moment scouting has provided us with growing in our relationship. From the simple experiences of a father teaching his son how to use tools in Cubscouts, to physically and mentally challenging trips like Northern Tier, to inside jokes and getting to work alongside him at the same playing field at NYLT, our relationship has grown so much because of Scouting. My two favorite Scouting memories, by far, were ending my Eagle Scout Board of Review in October of 2020, hopping off the Zoom call, and getting to tell my dad that I am an Eagle Scout, just like him and my older brother, and traveling to Northern Tier with both of them later that summer.
Giving Back Through NYLT
Because I know the impact Scouting has on me, I allow it to serve as my reason for my continued involvement in Scouting, especially the NYLT program. While in high school I found myself constantly berated by other activities, however I knew I still was not done with Scouting despite having earned Eagle, because of my Eagle charge.
At my Eagle Court of Honor I was tasked with giving back to Scouting more than it has given to me, and I knew it was a tall task at hand that could not simply wait until I was grown with my own kids. The place I found the most suitable balance was in the NYLT program, where I could work better with my schedule with a program I believe in.
The NYLT program changes people, and each time returning back to staff invites new unique challenges leading towards growth. While I can now recite the weird daily schedule from memory with proper times, and no longer rely on the syllabus when spotting missing curriculum in presentations, I find myself still developing upon each return. Working with new and unfamiliar scouts each time and their smiles while they learn leadership skills and practice what they know in a fun and supportive environment teaches me understanding. It is always incredible to see how NYLT works, hearing stories of how a participant went home to lead their units with skills learned from the camp, and especially getting to return to staff together. This past summer, I was fortunate to be the Youth Course Lead in June, where I got to hand-pick many former participants to work alongside me to bring forth our shared vision of inspiring the next wave of leaders in Scouting.
Even more fortunately, due to some unforeseen details, I received the last minute opportunity to help out in a new capacity in July for the program, getting to work on the administrative side, organizing papers, doing laundry, and taking photos capturing the participants’ emotions. The coolest part about the experiences was the Youth Course Lead was a participant on the very first course I staffed, and, as traditionally YCL is the last role a youth may serve, and we got to finish our NYLT careers together. I owe so, so much to Scouting, and I am forever indebted to the lessons and experiences uncovered throughout my Scouting career. That’s why I choose to continue being a Scout.
