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Why Do I Feel Like an Idiot?


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Ok long story short, I like the idea of youth teaching as I am old school. So when i did my last IOLS class, I had 2 youth staffers. Both did very well, and would use them again in a heartbeat. In fact I think 1 will be giving a class on camping to our pack's new Cubs and their parents as he will be the TC Den Chief, his cousin will be in the den and the Scout specificallya sked to work with them. And best of all, most of the adults got the concept of "Train them, Trust them, LET THEM LEAD!"

 

Anyway it's the other one. Great guy, had him on CSDC staff and wrote the recommendation for him to be on summer camp staff. Great guy knows his stuff, and really didn't care about getting Eagle. Until recently. Now he is pumped and ready to rock and roll. Got a call asking to me an MBC for him as the regular MBC the unit uses won't touch him. Dad doesn't want it to look as if he is giving son the MB. Ok find and dandy. Then I find out which one it is: Camping.

 

Why do I feel like an idiot for assuming the guy who left a troop because it wasn't camping enough,the guy who lives and breathes camping, the guy who served on camp staff would have Camping MB?

 

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While one's activities, interests and participation are one thing, having done the paperwork is quite another. :) It's an easy mistake to make. Same for the fantastic GrubMaster that whips out fantastic food on the campfire. He's been having so much fun doing what he's doing he hasn't got the time to do the Cooking MB paperwork. :) Never assume a thing, when they are reviewing a scouts records for Eagle, they assume nothing but what's in the records, i.e. blue cards and registrar's report.

 

This is why troop record keeping is so important so the boys don't get surprises along the way like you did. :)

 

Stosh

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Not exactly the same, but you reminded me of something similar. The scoutmaster of one of the best troops in our district once told me that the best scout he ever had never advanced past second class. This scout was a better a camper, leader, and all around scout than any other scout or adult this highly respected SM had ever known. The scout just didn't care about advancement. A few years later I had a scout just like him. He is truely a natural leader and was an outstanding all around scout, but he had zero desire for any of the processes of advancement in the program. How could the best SPL ever not want to advance. He in my persepective was the epitome of the Eagle and I felt he needed the Eagle to represent the kind of person he is, even today. So I applied constant pressure for him to advance, and I hurt everytime when I think about how I drove him off. That SM was trying to teach me something, why didn't I listen? I changed my philosphy about adults setting goals for scouts after that. You know what the say about "assume". I bare many scares of its humily. Barry

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Not exactly the same, but you reminded me of something similar. The scoutmaster of one of the best troops in our district once told me that the best scout he ever had never advanced past second class. This scout was a better a camper, leader, and all around scout than any other scout or adult this highly respected SM had ever known. The scout just didn't care about advancement. A few years later I had a scout just like him. He is truely a natural leader and was an outstanding all around scout, but he had zero desire for any of the processes of advancement in the program. How could the best SPL ever not want to advance. He in my persepective was the epitome of the Eagle and I felt he needed the Eagle to represent the kind of person he is, even today. So I applied constant pressure for him to advance, and I hurt everytime when I think about how I drove him off. That SM was trying to teach me something, why didn't I listen? I changed my philosphy about adults setting goals for scouts after that. You know what the say about "assume". I bare many scares of its humily. Barry
Sounds like you're talking about my buddy, the best scout I ever knew, who aged out at 2nd class! Of his many accomplishments, the one nearest to my heart was that he asked me to join his troop! (This was back in the days when packs -- at least ours -- had zero transition from Webelos to Boy Scouts.)
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Not exactly the same, but you reminded me of something similar. The scoutmaster of one of the best troops in our district once told me that the best scout he ever had never advanced past second class. This scout was a better a camper, leader, and all around scout than any other scout or adult this highly respected SM had ever known. The scout just didn't care about advancement. A few years later I had a scout just like him. He is truely a natural leader and was an outstanding all around scout, but he had zero desire for any of the processes of advancement in the program. How could the best SPL ever not want to advance. He in my persepective was the epitome of the Eagle and I felt he needed the Eagle to represent the kind of person he is, even today. So I applied constant pressure for him to advance, and I hurt everytime when I think about how I drove him off. That SM was trying to teach me something, why didn't I listen? I changed my philosphy about adults setting goals for scouts after that. You know what the say about "assume". I bare many scares of its humily. Barry
I never got past 2C for the same reason. After four years I went into Civil Air Patrol. I promised myself I would never do the same thing to a boy when I got to be a SM. I have been an avid outdoors person all my life. Eagle would have been nice but it isn't all that important as some make it out to be.
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You can never figure them out... I had two brothers in the troop a while back. One is now a professional photographer. Never passed the photography merit badge. The other has an MBA in Music, and is the High School Band director. Yep - never got the Music merit badge. Go figure!!!

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Don't know why you would feel like an idiot. Your OP has the answer: he really didn't care about Eagle until recently. If you don't care about advancement, why waste the time jumping through the hoops of the MB?

 

As to the photographer and band director -- that's the way we've evolved the merit badge program. Kids earn elective merit badges based more on opportunity rather than interest. If you can sit through a summer camp MB class rather than go through the whole process for meeting with a counselor and completing the requirements individually, who would? And given that most boys can complete nine electives in a couple weeks at camp, there is little incentive to earn more than the minimum -- even in a topic which interests you.

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The only MB I had left to do for Eagle was Cit in the World, and I was living overseas at the time....
The sad part was I didn't even realize this until my son was close to Eagle. At the time I thought I had a long way to go. Totally clueless as a youth. Now, I fully support Eagle coaches ;)
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Not exactly the same, but you reminded me of something similar. The scoutmaster of one of the best troops in our district once told me that the best scout he ever had never advanced past second class. This scout was a better a camper, leader, and all around scout than any other scout or adult this highly respected SM had ever known. The scout just didn't care about advancement. A few years later I had a scout just like him. He is truely a natural leader and was an outstanding all around scout, but he had zero desire for any of the processes of advancement in the program. How could the best SPL ever not want to advance. He in my persepective was the epitome of the Eagle and I felt he needed the Eagle to represent the kind of person he is, even today. So I applied constant pressure for him to advance, and I hurt everytime when I think about how I drove him off. That SM was trying to teach me something, why didn't I listen? I changed my philosphy about adults setting goals for scouts after that. You know what the say about "assume". I bare many scares of its humily. Barry
Hey jblake47, my brother is a lieutenant colonel in CAP and served as the commander of his squadron for a year, He prefers military activities while I prefer camping. He's going into the Army Special Forces now.
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The only MB I had left to do for Eagle was Cit in the World, and I was living overseas at the time....
I don't care for coaches......doesn't put enough responsibility on the youth...... but as SM I have an SMC with every boy in the troop at least twice a year..... One of the topics is advancement....
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