Scoutmaster Training 2001
Carlos and I started this, but only Carlos finished it. I was pretty upset, because they had told me I would graduate, but when they announced my name they told me I had to come back and makeup a part of the training. We had our Gettysburg campout, so I came late to one of the outdoor activities. I figured that I had only put in about 50 hours into the training, and that apparently wasn't enough.
Here's what we did at the other outdoor activity.
I'm supposed to go back and make up my missed hours, but I haven't yet. The whole training course was a frustration for me because they continually taught scouting skills (lashings, knots, etc) but they didn't teach much about leadership (i.e. running a troop, organizing and motivating boys, etc.) which is what I wanted. There were a lot of wasted hours for anyone who went through the boyscouts as a youth, such as myself. I guess they're oriented towards adults getting into scouting only as their kids grow up.
While I'm on the subject, I was also offended by the amount of time the trainers spent giving each other awards. Maybe they have nothing better to do so they have no idea how much of a sacrifice it is for me to take another evening away from my wife and young family, so they just waste my time praising each other and refusing to teach me anything helpful. Frankly, I think the whole training course is oriented to make the trainers feel good and little consideration is given to help disfunctional troops become successful.
Still, I want to go back and finish my training so I can get that stupid patch. Ain't I pathetic?