It was looking like it was going to be a miserable week in the rain. I am a member of an American Boy Scout troop in Japan and had signed up for a weeklong Summer Camp outside of Tokyo. I had planned on a relaxing week of earning merit badges, enjoying camp cooking, and letting the adult leaders take charge. Instead, I arrived to a campsite in chaos. The other campers were playing and chasing each other around the campsite, and not setting up tents or arranging gear. Worse, it was starting to rain, and forecasts predicted a wet week. I was a newly-appointed patrol leader with no experience, but I was the oldest scout present, and suddenly found myself with the task of making sure things don’t devolve into Lord of the Flies. The other campers seemed determined to goof off and enjoy an unrestrained week without their parents. They all seemed to have plenty of energy when it came to playing, but actively avoided work. One time I wanted to ask a scout named Ken to help out with something. I walked over to his tent and tapped on the …show more content…
For a group project, I was one of six students assigned to research a joint-report on ancient Egypt. As the deadline approached, nobody did anything and I started to panic. I began to do the whole project myself, hoping to get at least a decent grade. When the others saw me, they suddenly seemed motivated to pitch in. The lesson, I realized, was to lead by example. I decided to try this strategy on the undisciplined scouts. Our campsite was the furthest one from the spigot that was the water source for the campers. Scouts were supposed to get water, but no one had done it. I picked up two of the large containers and started to walk to the water source, about 400 meters away. I asked three scouts to follow me. On the way back, I carried one of the heavy, full containers by myself. To my surprise, one scout volunteered to carry the other full
We have had to deal with, “poor food- hard lodging- cold weather- fatigue, “(Document B). In this diary by Dr Waldo, a doctor we have at camp, he has accurately described what life is like at camp. The factors that we undergo make us sick both physically and mentally, these factors make us lose all sense of empowerment to win this war that we once felt, these factors make us want to go home more than anything just to hear our mother’s voice just once more. The absence of encouragement from other colonists and countries, and how I have to go to bed with my stomach empty every single night pushes me over the edge to give up and just
Leadership in Watership Down Many people possess leadership qualities, although they don’t rule a country. Meriwether Lewis, the official leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, has been called “undoubtedly the greatest pathfinder this country has ever known.” Just like Hazel, Meriwether Lewis led a group of followers into unknown territory. The two guides faced many difficult situations that they were able to overcome since they had the qualities of a notable leader.
Johnny Moore, a Boy Scout from troop 748, is on a camping trip in Point Lookout, a site frequented often by campers and nature enthusiasts. But Johnny Moore’s experience was different. In the middle of the night, Johnny is awoken by a voice calling for home. Usually this is fairly common, as the young scouts will miss home fairly easily and call out in the night. Most of the time the scout masters tend to these issues fairly quickly, however the callin...
The book Black Hearts by Jim Frederick is an in-depth narrative about the 1st platoon, Bravo Company 1-502nd Infantry 101st Airborne Division deployed to Iraq in 2005. The leadership failures documented in this book range all the way from the general officer level down to the lowest private. LT general Ricardo Sanchez failed to understand the climate his command group was entering as they were deployed into Iraq. From then on the entire leadership failures continued to compound upon each other with improper time to plan. It is customary to have a six month lead time to have a proper battle hand off when preparing to take over an AO from another unit. To compound this problem, the entire time the 502nd was in pre-deployment training, they were preparing for the rigors of urban combat. In reality, they were given six weeks to recon their new area of responsibility and were going to a countryside crafted by the heavens for guerilla warfare. As Colonel Ebel said in the book, “It is not going to be an easy road. They are not even sure of what they have in the area. It just feels bad. We can expect a real fight.”
I put on all the clothes I had packed – pajamas, four shirts, and three sweaters. That not only veiled me from the frost but also greatly reduced the mass of my backpack. This time, there were no wandering fifth-graders, so I was left with nothing to do but to roost alone in the bathroom near the heater. After almost an hour, somebody staggered in: a drowsy, agitated Mrs. July. Long story short, I was kicked out of the bathroom and told to start a fire. I suppose this was especially urgent because a few of the Pathfinders had no pants (just shorts) and no sweaters. I hauled the logs into the fireplace and gathered a few damp leaves. Blowing on the hot coals produced a flame that set alight one side of the pile. Then somebody brought a functioning lighter and ignited the other end of the wood. While I was remunerated by being set first in line for breakfast, the poor assistant seemed somewhat
Despair and sadness filled the camp like a glass of water about to fill over
For the final paragraph of this report on how the group worked together and an individual reflection on myself will be looked at. The group that I worked with completed most tasks with a high level of responsibility with no major issues or injury’s occurring on the camp, each task was done efficiently and safely because we worked as a team to pitch tents and cook meals etc. I believe that I did most tasks well with only a few minor flaws in cooking safely. When looking at the knowledge of bushwalking people in my
Check. 2 pairs of shoes. Check. 6 shirts. Check. 1 pound bag of sour patch kids. Check. Water balloons. Check. “Alright, everything seems to be there.” I heard a faint ding from the other side of my bedroom, and went to read a new message on my phone. A message from a close friend read: “Dude im soo excited for camp but im really nervous.” Smiling, I replied, “Me too lol I just finished packing.” “What time are you getting there?” “Well the earliest we’re allowed 2 b there is 1 since practice starts @ 3, so prob 1:30-ish.” “K cool. C ya later,” she sent back. The car ride to Camp Bountiful would be about one and a half hours, according to Google Maps, so I checked my suitcase for the fourth time to make sure I had everything, and loaded it
The Boy Scouts have high standards for children that age, if perhaps only in ideal and less in practice (though this is true for any organization), and the expectations on the leadership of the boys was clear. Often times, the adults present are to be more chaperones than actual leaders, leaving the direction of the troop, and sometimes even the planning of events, to the boys elected to be the scouts’ leader. The leaders (and older scouts) would be expected not just to guide the others in doing something productive, but also to instruct them in the skills they needed to learn, and be on hand to aid them if something went terribly awry. While this isn’t
During the Spring break, my friends and I went camping at a national forest in Oregon. It was supposed to be a two days of hiking and one-night living in a camp. For me, I love hiking because I get to see new things, be in the wild outdoors and the best part is enjoying the scenic views. Mark, who is the leader of the pack is really professional and have a lot of experience in camping. He was a scout member since he was a little boy. You can see how active he is by looking at the number of badges he owns.
There were several contextual factors that impacted the retreat. A majority of the participants attend LINKS activities because their foster parents tell them that they are going. LINKS is not a mandatory service, but I believe that some of the youth likely feel that it is. Because this trip was labeled as a retreat at a beach house in which the youth were being picked up early from school, many of the participants seemed excited leading up to the event. On the Friday of the trip, we picked up the youth from school around noon. The temperature was below freezing and it was sleeting. I believe the weather impacted a majority of the participants’ moods over the weekend, as it was also cold and rainy on Saturday, then sunny, but cold and extremely windy on Sunday. The youth were disappointed with the weather, because they were unable to enjoy the beach. I noticed that the participants’ energy levels dropped after the battleship tour, which I
Today we climb a mountain! I’m not actually all that excited about this, but I gotta feign enthusiasm, apparently thats one of the roles of a leader, so they say. Waking up at four am to the beep beep beep of my watch I yawn deeply and shake Ian awake. “Get up man, we gotta break down camp by 4:45”. “Aww fuck no man, lemme sleep… five minutes…” he says through two layers of jackets and a full body sleeping bag. Goddamnit, Ian is always trying to pull this shit on me. I leave the tent and take a wicked piss on a nearby tree; I swear if it gets any colder my dick is gonna fall off. Fortunately we do have some reliable kids in the troop. Unfortunately, one is basically a hamster on meth and the other is a world class bitch. Per tradition, I suck in a lungful of air and at the top of my lungs below “GOOD MORNING CAMPERS!”. This is, of course, followed by the official boy scout responses of “Ugghhh, its still darker than a monkey’s taint outside” and other assorted pleasantries. Eventually I beat the sloppy fuckers into a rumpled amalgamation of bleary-eyed, under-fed, man-children. And off we go. As we leave camp, the sun still ain't up, and we munch on the breakfast of champions: pre-packaged cereal bars, oatmeal cookies, Spam, and squeeze cheese. Making our way up to the base of Baldy Mountain takes around an hour and a half. If I had to describe the view in one word, it would be: orgasmic. As we reach the base camp at the bottom of Baldy, there lies a stunningly beautiful valley. As the sun emerges from slumber, its golden rays peer out across the Tooth of Time and scorch a vivid front of orange and red across the otherwise bleak landscape. Out of this nearly religious contemplation comes the voice of an angel: “Getoffyerlazygodam...
This past summer, I was an assistant backpacking instructor for an all-girls, week-long camping trip in a nearby state park coordinated by an outdoor education nonprofit. For my role, I focused on being a conscious role model for the students who were in middle school. Throughout the trip, I passed down my knowledge that I had learned from years of backpacking. I kept my spirits up, even when we discovered that our first hike to the campground was actually three more miles than the planned route. To overcome the obstacle of the unplanned miles, I modeled confident, enthusiastic energy, which influenced others to have positive mindsets. By the time we returned to base camp, each girl had acclimated to the strenuousness and found a unique joy in nature, which I knew was partly due to my leadership. Seeing their self-confidence blossom was a proud moment for me. Through my experience as an instructor, I realized who I am as a leader, and who I could
First, there was no bed available for us to sleep. One comforter was given to each student to sleep. I had a hard time adjusting sleeping without the bed. I was awake till three in the morning the first night of the camp because I was not used to this sleeping manner. Although, the next night I did not have to struggle a lot to sleep. One of my friends couldn’t sleep all of the three nights. We ate the same food which was prepared for the children. None of the dishes were my favorite but there was no other choice available there, I have to eat that only. In the morning, to take a shower one has to stand in a line because enough bathrooms are not available for all to take the shower at one time. Consequently, the amount of hot water was also limited, one cannot take a shower for a very long time. Out of all the things I disliked waking up 6:00 am in the morning. This is the saddest thing to do, when the vacations are going on. Although, I was able to explore more by waking up early and volunteer for the breakfast and lunch shifts. I saw lot of ancient sculptures and monuments and learned about history and culture. In future, if I have the opportunity to volunteer abroad, I would love to do something like that and explore more places. Although, according to wrote Prof Richter, executive director, South Africa-based Human Sciences Research
One of the most important components of leadership is the leader. A leader is responsible for his or her followers and the overall goal of the group or organization. Leaders are the people held accountable or everything that happens, good or bad. On the other hand, the second major component of leadership is the followers. Without followers, a leader would be worthless. Followers make up the backbone of a leader because they are the masses that get goals accomplished. A leader is just one person, but the number of followers is countless. In order to be an effective follower, there are a countless number of characteristics that allow a follower to be the best they can be. Five of these characteristics include a positive attitude, communication skills, being part of the process, being open to new ideas, and patience.