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Post date: Nov 5, 2011 9:17:19 PM
Christopher von Roretz
Have you ever come home from a meeting, on a night where the youth simply wouldn’t listen, and asked yourself, “Why am I still doing this?” You are a volunteer after all; lured in by the thought of helping out, and with lines such as, “It’s only one hour a week!”
One challenge Scouting faces when compared to soccer or hockey is that the benefit from Scouting is long-term, and sometimes, you quite simply will not see the fruits of your labours at every weekly meeting. That is why I’d like to tell you what scouting has brought me, as a reminder of just what that “one hour” can mean to a child.
I joined Cubs when two of my best friends invited me along as a guest, and I enjoyed myself enough during that one exposure that I was soon registered. After completing the Scout program a few years later, myself and a few others created a Venturer company, and then later a Rover crew. As a Scout, I also began helping out with our Beaver colony, and continued to do so for more than a decade. In recent years, I have signed on as an assistant Scouter, in addition to my roles at the group committee and council level. Over this period, I have also been on several camp planning teams, including one for CJ’07, as deputy camp chief.
The impact that these diverse experiences have had on all facets of my persona, however, are much less evident at first glance. Only recently have I been able to look back on my growth as a youth over the past fifteen years and see how Scouting has sculpted me to become who I am.
At the beginning of elementary school, I was shy and introverted. In Cubs, I learned to be more outgoing, sociable, and how to work individually, and as part of a team, towards goals.
During high school, Scouts taught me not only to be confident, but also how to appreciate the value of hard work and its benefits. Academically, the impact of learning that full effort leads to more fulfilling rewards is more evident than anywhere else. The work ethics I have adopted, whereby I am only really happy when busy, are a product of my Scouting experiences. Venturers exposed me to an assortment of new skills, such as how to plan activities and camps, and how to be organized and responsible. My roles in leader ship positions have further highlighted these values, while also teaching me a new collection of skills including how to communicate and delegate.
The lessons that I learned, and continue to learn in Scouting, have been intricately laced into my personal development, so that while I may only have been in Scouting for one-and-a- half hours a week (excluding camps, activities, fundraisers, planning, etc.), the effect of Scouting was occurring throughout each day of my life. While school taught me how to think, and my family taught me how to behave, Scouting taught me how to live. Recently, I have had the pleasure of working with some Scouters in Training, whom I first met when they were Beavers many years ago. It sparked pride in me for having been involved in the teaching of these youth; emphasized because I am now able to see what they have become.
Yet for these few youth that I or any of us see, there are dozens, or even hundreds, whom we may never meet again. This does not mean that they have failed, or that their leaders did not have the “right” kind of impact on their lives. I strongly believe that even participating in one Scouting meeting leaves a youth better off, and that no matter when the time comes for that youth’s Scouting experience to end, the time he or she spent in this Movement will have left a meaningful imprint on that child’s life.
As leaders, we must often live with little more than the comfort of knowing the difference we, and Scouting, have made. When I look at what Scouting has brought me, I cannot begin to think of how I could express my gratitude to the leaders that played a pivotal part in molding me into who I am today. Actually, that inexpressible appreciation should be directed to leaders everywhere, because you have all made a difference in the lives of children through your dedication.
Though weekly meetings may only be about one hour, the impact of that short time can change lives.
Christopher von Roretz is a Scout leader with the Strathmore Group in Dorval, Quebec.
Source: Scouts Canada Magazine, THE LEADER, p. 38, March 2008
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