I remember my first SPL in Troop 2 (36 years ago) and he was, what I thought, one of the biggest jerks around.
One of the first awards I earned in that troop was the Citizen skill award and my SPL was the one that would pass or fail you depending upon how well you mastered the written exam and if you failed...you repeated the exam over and over and over again until you got it right.
Well, I was one that had to repeat the exam over and over as I thought there was no point in learning anything about Patrick Henry or the likes of John Hancock.
I was really frustrated as I couldn't pass that 20 page written exam. It didn't matter whether it was multiple guess, true or false, or essay. I was destined to repeat the test.
Finally, my SPL had given me the secret of passing any requirement in scouting and earning the coveted Eagle Rank so far out of reach for a 11 year old.
The secret lie in a word which came from an old native American chieftain.
That word was: Yagoddawanttu
I didn't understand but then it had hit me like a lightning bolt!
If you want to do something; you got to want to do it and that was the greatest lesson that I learned about life and it was all because of my SPL (the jerk) who suddenly became my mentor and leader that I tried to emulate through my scout years at Troop 2.
The saddest day in my scouting life in boy scouts came when he quit the troop and moved on.
He never made Eagle, but the lessons he taught us new scouts were probably the best things we could possibly learn.
I still keep that code word in my heart in everything that I do.
And if you are wondering....Yes, I did make Eagle Scout and of all the things that brought me there was "Yagoddawanttu."
One of the first awards I earned in that troop was the Citizen skill award and my SPL was the one that would pass or fail you depending upon how well you mastered the written exam and if you failed...you repeated the exam over and over and over again until you got it right.
Well, I was one that had to repeat the exam over and over as I thought there was no point in learning anything about Patrick Henry or the likes of John Hancock.
I was really frustrated as I couldn't pass that 20 page written exam. It didn't matter whether it was multiple guess, true or false, or essay. I was destined to repeat the test.
Finally, my SPL had given me the secret of passing any requirement in scouting and earning the coveted Eagle Rank so far out of reach for a 11 year old.
The secret lie in a word which came from an old native American chieftain.
That word was: Yagoddawanttu
I didn't understand but then it had hit me like a lightning bolt!
If you want to do something; you got to want to do it and that was the greatest lesson that I learned about life and it was all because of my SPL (the jerk) who suddenly became my mentor and leader that I tried to emulate through my scout years at Troop 2.
The saddest day in my scouting life in boy scouts came when he quit the troop and moved on.
He never made Eagle, but the lessons he taught us new scouts were probably the best things we could possibly learn.
I still keep that code word in my heart in everything that I do.
And if you are wondering....Yes, I did make Eagle Scout and of all the things that brought me there was "Yagoddawanttu."
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