A Goodbye to MSMS

Well, I graduate on Saturday. Mostly, I'm feeling pretty sad about it. I'm leaving behind a whole two years of my life and all the people who were a part of that. I just don't know if college can live up to this.

MSMS and Scouts (both Venturing and Girl Scouting) have been the main influences on my life for the last two years, so college, where these things will not be ever-present, is going to be really strange.

It's amazing to me how I will have friends scattered all over the world so soon. Many of my classmates stay in state, saving money and helping to fulfill the MSMS mission of enriching the state in a more immediate way. I know people going to schools like Yale, Harvard, Cornell, MIT, UC Berkeley, Amherst College, and other schools all over the states. I also have friends who have chosen unique educational opportunities like Deep Springs College or the Minerva Project. A few students even go to college in other countries as well. It's scary and wonderful how we will be scattered. We will all be very separated, but I will also know people all over the place.

I plan to attend Carleton College in the fall, and I am considering a biology major, but won't have to declare my major until sophomore year. I will also work this summer at Philmont Scout Ranch.

To future MSMS students, all I can really offer is my best wishes and a few bits of advice you didn't ask for. In no particular order:

1. Work hard.

2. Take advantage of the opportunities you are offered.

3. Recognize when you need help, and ask for it.

4. Don't do anything stupid.

5. Don't forget to have fun and enjoy every moment, because you don't get any of them back.

I know a lot of people have helped me to reach where I am now: teachers, mentors, Scout leaders, friends, parents, family, and so on, so thank you to all of them. I couldn't have done it without you.

NYLT Day 6

Today was the final day of the course. (Also the first day of a new year.) We packed up our tents and gear, began the day with an assembly at the flagpole, then ate breakfast and got to work on cleaning up camp. Soon, parents began to arrive, and we all ate lunch. Then each patrol gave presentations or performed skits teaching about leadership, before a final ceremony. Then we all went home.
Overall, the course was definitely a challenge for me - in communicating, and in getting along with other people. I feel like there were some times when I stepped up and took the lead, and others when I did not feel invested in my patrol, and did not really care how well we did. Overall, I think the experience was a good one to have, and I hope I have learned something from it.

NYLT Day 5

Today, New Year's Eve, is the last full day of the course. Tomorrow, we will be preparing to meet our families and go home. Most of today we spend preparing for tonight's outpost camp out, although we also did a few more presentations in the morning. The outpost camp out utilized many of the skills that we had been taught over the previous week.
We still need to work on our skit for tomorrow, but it's difficult to get everyone to focus enough to have a legitimate practice. The course is nearly over, and it has not been easy, but I'm glad I came.

NYLT Day 4

Today, we learned about the EDGE method for teaching, which was pretty familiar for most of us. Our guides demonstrated using the method to teach us how to use a GPS device for geocaching, which we practiced. We also learned about conflict resolution, which was probably the most interesting subject so far.
In the model troop meeting portion of the day, we learned about packing a backpack (for backpacking, not for school. Even Scouting cannot save us from the weight of textbooks). There was also a geocaching challenge. Our patrol was the slowest, but we did not give up and finished the course. The Making Ethical Decisions presentation was the last session for the day, and then the individual patrols had campfires to themselves.
I do wonder what type of Scout this course is designed for - I know it could be good for any Scout, but I think it would be particularly good for crew leaders of high adventure activities, the top three officers in Venturing crews, and patrol leaders in troops. I would be curious to know the age and rank of the Scouts going through the course in councils where the course has been established and successful for a period of time.