Career Growth from Boy Scouts to Den Chief

Have you ever climbed a mountain?  It’s not the biggest accomplishment in the world nor an easy one. I climb Mt. Baldy in Philmont Scout Ranch of New Mexico. It was standing 12,441′ feet and I was ready to dig in and start climbing. I was accompanied by my Dad and 15 other boys all my age. We walked and walked it was hard and we lost oxygen fast as we climbed. By the time the tree line broke, I was tired, sweaty, and ready for a nice hotel and shower. But, we weren’t even at the top yet. But the view was incredible. You could see several different states, and different landscapes, but something else caught my eye. My Dad was crying and it scared me I ran over and asked him what was wrong, was he hurt, and he looked at me and told me how proud he was of me and the scouts. Since I started scouts were working with the same boys all the way up from first grade. Some left and some joined but, I always had them and they always had me. He had seen our scouting career from the First-grade pinewood derbies to finally the climb of our lives. Seeing my Dad emotionally which didn’t happen very much made me realize what has happened over the years. The things learned, experienced, and the character that was built.

Most, of the things I was doing, were purely for advancement and leading the troop. Over the years I made more connections and with that came higher ranks and more positions of added leadership and responsibility. I was teaching younger scouts, Planning campouts and charity events, Organizing other boys, learning proper email techniques, and figuring out the bureaucracy of boy scouts. One of the first leadership positions I held was Den Chief while I held this position I was teaching Cub Scouts different life skills, and scout skills, and encouraging them to keep going on through their scouting career. I loved this position because I felt like I was actively making.

Have you ever climbed a mountain?  It’s not the biggest accomplishment in the world nor an easy one. I climb Mt. Baldy in Philmont Scout Ranch of New Mexico. It was standing 12,441′ feet and I was ready to dig in and start climbing. I was accompanied by my Dad and 15 other boys all my age. We walked and walked it was hard and we lost oxygen fast as we climbed. By the time the tree line broke, I was tired, sweaty, and ready for a nice hotel and shower. But, we weren’t even at the top yet. But the view was incredible. You could see several different states, and different landscapes, but something else caught my eye. My Dad was crying and it scared me I ran over and asked him what was wrong, was he hurt, and he looked at me and told me how proud he was of me and the scouts. Since I started scouts were working with the same boys all the way up from first grade. Some left and some joined but, I always had them and they always had me. He had seen our scouting career from the First-grade pinewood derbies to finally the climb of our lives. Seeing my Dad emotionally which didn’t happen very much made me realize what has happened over the years. The things learned, experienced, and the character that was built.

Most, of the things I was doing, were purely for advancement and leading the troop. Over the years I made more connections and with that came higher ranks and more positions of added leadership and responsibility. I was teaching younger scouts, Planning campouts and charity events, Organizing other boys, learning proper email techniques, and figuring out the bureaucracy of boy scouts. One of the first leadership positions I held was Den Chief while I held this position I was teaching Cub Scouts different life skills, and scout skills, and encouraging them to keep going on through their scouting career. I loved this position because I felt like I was actively making a difference. I could see firsthand the boys looking up to me and engaging in the things I was teaching. I felt pride in knowing that they looked up to me and wanted to learn from me versus the usual dynamic of a classroom that they have been familiar with for years. The satisfaction continued throughout different events in my scouting career. 

Every year we cleaned a local highway and made soup for the homeless, but it reached one of the highest points after the completion of my eagle project. I had successfully rebuilt two high-traffic footbridges and created irrigation ditches in a local county park. They are used year-round by hikers, bikers, snowshoers, and cross-country skiers. I had to make plans, get it approved by my scout troop, scout council, and Erie County Park department, then acquire materials by donations and fundraising, next I had to organize 15+ people, tools, materials, and food all in unison to carry out the actual project. Standing back and seeing two well-constructed buildings along with irrigation ditches was one of the most satisfying moments of my life. By the end, my project had helped save the environment by creating fewer people traveling on vegetation and decrease in erosion from runoff.