Portrayal of America, Part III

The Journey

The process of mastering the outdoors takes from two to three years. It begins with the ordinary rank of Scout. One becomes a Scout after attaining the proper uniform – beige by today’s standards, olive drab in the decades past – memorizing the Scout Oath and Law, vowing to live by it every day, and attending a camp outing.

The rank of Tenderfoot follows. By this time, the Scout is becoming more experienced in the outdoors, learning to build fire, use knives and other sharp tools with which to cut wood. He is learning to set up a tent and prepare a meal with a camp stove. He is learning to survive in the biting cold by a mummy bag and layers of clothing. In the summer, he learns to keep himself hydrated in the boiling heat while biking up and down mountain trails. This process continues through Second and First Class. It typically takes two and half to three years to reach the First Class rank and only after a Scout has experienced a wide variety of camping experiences. A Scout ranked at First Class is considered beyond proficient in the outdoors, resourceful for their age, and independent in many areas.


Camp T. Brady Saunders, Virginia – July 2004

Trevor has only been a Boy Scout for three months, and he despises every aspect of it. The meetings are boring. He doesn’t know anyone in the troop. And camping is, quite frankly, miserable. Trevor has no father, only a mother who desperately wants him to make friends and mature into a responsible, knowledgeable young man.

“I just don’t like it, mom!” the eleven year-old complains every Monday night after the troop meeting. “Camping sucks.”

Trevor is shy and doesn’t make friends very easily. Skinny as a beanpole, he’s frail and awkward during outdoor activities. He lacks the self-confidence necessary to help him endure hardship on camping trips, but his mother knows that this is one of the ideals the Boy Scouts focus on. If he doesn’t give up, he’ll grow confident. It is not a prerequisite for joining the organization.

“Okay,” she says finally. “Promise me you’ll go to summer camp next month. Promise me you’ll just give it a try. If you still don’t like it, even after that, then I won’t make you keep doing it. If you want to after that, I’ll let you quit.” Trevor accepts the offer only after a large degree of pleading.


The Journey

The rank of Star on a Boy Scout’s uniform denotes that he is self-assured, resilient, and familiar with being in a leadership position, such as Troop Guide or Senior Patrol Leader, whose duty is to oversee the Troop as a whole. Yet, a Star Scout is only beginning to understand the fundamentals of leadership. He is only beginning to grow comfortable in this new position, a position he still sees more suited for older men…adults. But he is becoming an adult, a man, whether he realizes it or not.

The rank of Life comes next and is one step away from Eagle. A Life Scout is in his prime, typically the leader of the troop and the go-to guy for serious problems amongst the younger Scout community. He assists in planning the camping outings, since the basic philosophy in the Boy Scouts of America is that the boys lead. He helps to train the younger boys, and he participates in the financial aspects of troop management. He sets a daily example by the way he lives his life, always doing his best to follow the Oath and Law. He is always prepared, as the Scout Motto stresses. He leads other Scouts in Patrol Leader Councils, their purpose in keeping the troop functioning as a whole. A life Scout is nearly at the end of his journey. Next is the final and most coveted rank in the Boy Scouts of America: Eagle Scout.

Portrayal of America, Part I

November, 2004

Out of sheer boredom, I found myself perusing my old word documents this evening and stumbled upon a college essay I wrote my sophomore year. The assignment was titled, "Portrayal of America," and I chose to write about the Boy Scouts of America, being fresh out of the program and a proud Eagle Scout. Anyhow, my writing skills are not that developed yet, but I think this is a pretty cool treatise on the Boy Scouts as an organization...how it came to be, what it stands for, and what it has to offer the youth of our nation. While all of the events depicted in the article are real, I took the creative liberty of changing names and details. Here follows Part I...


The Longest Hike

The Appalachian Trail – April 1999

At 7:30 in the morning, the sun sprinkles droplets of light through a canopy of overhanging tree branches. Beneath it, the boys of Troop 891 awake and crawl from the comfort of their tents and squint in awe.

“It’s a beautiful morning, boys!” cries a strong-looking man wearing a bright red fleece jacket, olive green shorts, socks hiked up to his knees, and a pair of well-worn, sturdy hiking boots. A dozen boys, ranging from the ages of eleven to seventeen, come out of their temporary homes, their hair in shambles and eyes sagging to their chins.

“The early bird gets the worm,” says the man adorned in traditional Scout fatigue, their Scoutmaster, Mr. Reynolds. The boys groan but know he’s right. They have six more miles to hike that morning – all up hill – and they hiked eleven the day before. If they intend to make it the distance, they had better consume a decent breakfast.

They split into their patrols – each with its own unique name – and the designated cooks gets to work on the meal. However, some boys are less prepared than others. Those who have not brought along the proper equipment mope around, kicking small rocks and stirring clouds of dirt. No one has been cheated here. It is their own fault if they’re unhappy. Some of these boys are learning self-reliance the hard way. No one is required to help them, but someone always does out of kindness.

It requires some time to take down their tents, shake the rain flies dry of the dripping dew, clean up their cooking utensils, and secure their backpacks with all their gear. Some boys have more to carry, because they have brought some items they did not need. With experience, they will learn to weigh the necessities. The boys sleep two to a tent; therefore, they split the weight when hiking. The younger boys are far less experienced when it comes to camping, and it is the senior Scouts’ duty to aid and encourage them in this new experience. Paul and Drew – both seventeen – are the oldest on this trip, nearly Eagle Scouts. After packing up their gear, they tend to the younger boys’ needs, and they do it willingly, because they remember when they, too, were young and needy.

In little over an hour, the boys are ready to go. Paul and Drew lead the Troop on this six-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail in Northern Virginia, with the scouts ages thirteen to fifteen trailing right behind. Mr. Reynolds takes up the rear with another volunteer scoutmaster, Mr. Haywood, in order to make sure no one is left behind. The youngest Scouts hike just ahead of them, awkwardly lugging their twenty to twenty-five pound external frame backpacks. Determined to prove themselves capable, they complain little and help each other along the way.

The six-mile ascent proves long and tiring, even for Paul and Drew. But they eventually reach the parking lot where their trailer and vehicles have been awaiting their arrival. Paul unfastens his waist belt and lets his pack slide off his back. Leaning against the trailer, he breathes in deeply before taking a huge swig of water from his indestructible Nalgene bottle. Realizing he has just completed another grueling hike on a tough mountain trail, he grins in satisfaction. It has been a weekend well spent, and he’s proven to himself yet again that he is up to the challenge.