ParkMan 1293 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Have a great time! Your gear will fit right in. Let us know how it goes. Link to post Share on other sites
BAJ 90 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 9 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said: Two of my five patrol mates had something similar to hold a good chunk of their gear. :) If you’d been in my patrol you’d have fit right in and I would have been the outlier with my avalanche of separate totes, backpacks, tent, etc. etc. etc. Link to post Share on other sites
5thGenTexan 504 Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Packed up my stuff and came home tonight while everyone was crossing the bridge the first night. It was not fun at all today, in fact it was mentally draining. Its not that there was alot of information, it was just a bad experience. My personality type does not favor being a WB participant. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ParkMan 1293 Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Sorry to hear that it wasn't the experience for you. Thank you for trying and giving it the day. I would be Interested to hear what in the program didn't resonate with your personality type. As a staffer that kind of feedback is very helpful. Link to post Share on other sites
mrjohns2 577 Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 2 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said: It was not fun at all today, in fact it was mentally draining. Its not that there was alot of information, it was just a bad experience. I hope to be in staff next year or the year after. I too would be very interested in what was bad. I would hope we all could learn from your experience. Link to post Share on other sites
5thGenTexan 504 Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 8 hours ago, ParkMan said: Sorry to hear that it wasn't the experience for you. Thank you for trying and giving it the day. I would be Interested to hear what in the program didn't resonate with your personality type. As a staffer that kind of feedback is very helpful. 1) I have self confidence issues and depression and being in the environment of WB freaks the crap out of me. It goes WAY beyond being out of my comfort zone. 2) I am a black and white thinker. I can even start to think the way the material wants me to think. probably more when I go it over it more. Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 (edited) Was anyone impolite, were people trucking along and you felt that you weren’t into it, or were you pulled out of your comfort zone? I don’t know the new material, so an example might enlighten us. obviously, if typing here just brings back bad memories, take a pass. You’re not the first person I’ve met for whom the course rubbed the wrong way. Edited October 10, 2020 by qwazse Link to post Share on other sites
5thGenTexan 504 Posted October 10, 2020 Author Share Posted October 10, 2020 Aside from my anxieties. I am the sort of person where I just want the material. I am willing to sit there all day and watch it being presented. Keep a supply of snacks during the day and Im good. I have no tolerance for reflection and group discussions. Just get it done. I have 5 ticket ideas that I will probably go ahead and implement. I dont need a new neckerchief or beads to know I am doing what needs to get done for my Unit. I just wont be part of the club. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
ParkMan 1293 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 On 10/10/2020 at 10:34 AM, 5thGenTexan said: 1) I have self confidence issues and depression and being in the environment of WB freaks the crap out of me. It goes WAY beyond being out of my comfort zone. 2) I am a black and white thinker. I can even start to think the way the material wants me to think. On 10/10/2020 at 11:29 AM, 5thGenTexan said: Aside from my anxieties. I am the sort of person where I just want the material. I am willing to sit there all day and watch it being presented. Keep a supply of snacks during the day and Im good. I have no tolerance for reflection and group discussions. Just get it done. I have 5 ticket ideas that I will probably go ahead and implement. I dont need a new neckerchief or beads to know I am doing what needs to get done for my Unit. I just wont be part of the club. Thank you for the honesty about your experience. This will help as people prepare for future courses - both from a participant and staff perspective. I think the course mixes different styles in order to bring value to the widest possible number of people. For some, the value is in the lectures. For some, comes from the hands on moments outside the lectures and prepared materials. For some, they learn from hearing the perspectives of different people in the course. Some simply enjoy the networking and camaraderie of the course. Yet, I fully appreciate that some of these other styles are themselves off putting to participants like yourself. I would love to hear your thoughts you may have on how the course can still leverage different techniques, yet still be something you would have been more comfortable in. I very much appreciate that you gave this a try and ultimately decided it wasn't for you. Your input is invaluable. For what it's worth - don't sweat not getting your beads/neckerchief and not being part of "the club". While friendships certainly develop out of the course, those friendships are really little more than people who know each other becoming friends. After a course, they'll have spent 5 days together. People tend to know each other more - but that's as far as it should go. I have absolutely no idea who has their beads and who does not. Most Scouters I know rarely wear their beads or neckerchief outside of training or other formal events. Almost never is there a discussion about whether someone has their beads or not. When it does happen, it's usually to simply note that someone would be a good person to take a the course. We have a very strong Wood Badge tradition in our council and there most certainly is no "club". Link to post Share on other sites
5thGenTexan 504 Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 It probably did not help that our "guide" did not have ANY enthusiasm. He was low volume and read the back of the flip chart to us and that was it. I knew another person in my group already, but the rest didnt speak. It was 10:00 am after being there since 7:30 am and I suggested to the guide that we introduce ourselves, what our positions were, etc 2 Link to post Share on other sites
ParkMan 1293 Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, 5thGenTexan said: It probably did not help that our "guide" did not have ANY enthusiasm. He was low volume and read the back of the flip chart to us and that was it. I knew another person in my group already, but the rest didnt speak. It was 10:00 am after being there since 7:30 am and I suggested to the guide that we introduce ourselves, what our positions were, etc Yes - 100% I'm following that. Troop Guide is one of the most important positions. It's clearly important that troop guides be enthusiastic and well prepared. Nerves are one thing, but they shouldn't simply be reading from the script. I think that at about 7:35 am people should be introducing themselves. Great feedback! Thank you Edited October 11, 2020 by ParkMan typos 1 Link to post Share on other sites
qwazse 4342 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 18 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said: It probably did not help that our "guide" did not have ANY enthusiasm. He was low volume and read the back of the flip chart to us and that was it. I knew another person in my group already, but the rest didnt speak. It was 10:00 am after being there since 7:30 am and I suggested to the guide that we introduce ourselves, what our positions were, etc In other words, your instructor was inauthentic. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
5thGenTexan 504 Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 Person that I already knew that was in my group.... I was talking to her last night and on Saturday she went to car and cried because she wanted to leave. Couldnt because the course was paid for her by someone else. But she is not happy with the event at all. AND!!! On Friday night, they served us cheese enchilades... the frozen kind that you throw in the oven and serve. Very nasty. 🤮 4 Link to post Share on other sites
CynicalScouter 1434 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 32 minutes ago, 5thGenTexan said: I was talking to her last night and on Saturday she went to car and cried because she wanted to leave. I've never done WB, but any program that is so poorly run that it results in grown adults being brought to tears should be evaluated and examined. That sounds horrible. Did you (or she?) leave any comment to review of the course? "Feedback is a gift". 3 Link to post Share on other sites
ParkMan 1293 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 2 hours ago, 5thGenTexan said: Person that I already knew that was in my group.... I was talking to her last night and on Saturday she went to car and cried because she wanted to leave. Couldnt because the course was paid for her by someone else. But she is not happy with the event at all. AND!!! On Friday night, they served us cheese enchilades... the frozen kind that you throw in the oven and serve. Very nasty. 🤮 Wow - that's awful. I am under the impression that the quality of courses must vary widely based on the council you are in. In the most recent version of the course, National really has gone out of it's way to try & create a set of minimum standards. I can only guess that it is for courses like yours. I'm sorry to hear that it was done so poorly. It has the potential to be so much more. I'm really sorry to hear about it. Link to post Share on other sites
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