Scouting Builds Leaders

I made Eagle Scout this year, and as I think back on my experiences in Boy Scouts, I am convinced that everything I have done with my troop has had a profound influence on who I am today.

For instance, my first camp-out. It was to Liberty Creek on a wet fall weekend six years ago. After a few hours of hiking in the rain, I was soaked to the bone. Then, chopping wood and setting up tarps in the rain didn’t do much in the way of drying me out. That afternoon was miserable.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I rolled out from under the tarp. The rain was falling on my face. I was scared because it was too dark to see anything, much less find my way back under the tarp. For the rest of the night, I curled up under a tree and cried and was certain that this was my last camp-out.

As soon as I got home, I told my parents that I was through with Troop 325. But my parents convinced me to stay in the troop for a few more months; after that, they said, I could quit if I still wanted to. That was the best thing my parents have ever done for me.

After those first few months, the last thing on my mind was quitting. All I wanted to do was go backpacking, climbing or canoeing. The older Scouts taught me a lot about being comfortable in the mountains, and somehow, without even realizing it, I picked up a lot about leadership just by being around them.

Later, when I was about 15, all the older Scouts left for college. Somehow, I ended up as senior patrol leader, and that was when I really learned how to lead. I learned how to be firm without being mean, and I came to understand that the best way to lead was not with words, but rather by setting an example.

It also was during that time when I began to realize that I was on a road that many of my contemporaries had neglected to take. Scouting taught me to think for myself, and whether my thoughts were with or against the crowd really didn’t matter.

I am grateful for Dean Dinnison, our scoutmaster, and members who were and are in the troop, as well as to my family. It is because of them that I am completely confident in myself and my abilities to lead and motivate. The Scouts and Mr. Dinnison have left a thumb print on my mind and on my character that will stay there forever.

MEMO: “Your Turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your Turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your Turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.