Boy Scouts has been a wonderful experience that I have had the privilege to be involved with for the last 5 years. It has not only made me physically and mentally tougher, but I have gained so much experience through my involvement: experience that has changed me as a person altogether.

1. Raising my voice and being a leader

Boy Scouts is all about the boys! As someone who has been in Boy Scouts for some time, I watch more younger scouts joining every year. I have to take leadership and raise my voice to show what being a Boy Scout is about. Raising my voice is important in leadership, and I learned how to take control when the boys needed to be kept in line.

2. Overcoming unexpected challenges

There are many challenges that I faced when I joined the Boy Scouts. From hiking while dehydrated to being homesick, the list goes on and on. My biggest challenge was when I was in my second year of Boy Scouts: I was at a camping trip where it was raining very hard, and I had not come very prepared. My tent started to leak water, and everything inside my tent was wet. I was shaking and shivering in fear and thought to myself "That is that, no way I am going to survive now!" I thought to myself "How am I going to get around this?" Fortunately, I got help from fellow scouts with some spare clothing and a spare tent to sleep in for the night.

3. Learning how to be more responsible

I am known to be a very careless person, but Boy Scouts has changed my sense of responsibility. When I went on my first camping trip, I lost plates, utensils, first aid kits and stakes for a tent. Additionally, I lost my sleeping pad once when I put it in a trash bag after being unable to fit it properly in my regular bag. The trash bag was mistaken as garbage, and I ended up losing something very valuable. Since that terrible experience, I have never lost any of my own items because I now know that keeping up with and valuing my personal belongings is a necessity.

Boy Scouts is a long and wonderful journey: a journey that, for me, is slowly coming to an end, unfortunately. These difference experiences have taught me lessons that I can apply in my life not only as I grow up, but they also double as footsteps that my younger brother, who just began Boy Scouts, can follow.