Personal Narrative: My Boy Scout's Career

Sweat trickled down my brow as I raised the sledgehammer above my head. As the loud crack of splintering rock rang through the air, I felt a sharp tinge of pain in my arms caused by my many hours of laborious work. Thoughts of pride, community, and accomplishment are spinning through my head. This is the culmination of my Boy Scout career. I thought back to the beginning of the week when this all started.
Two friends and I climbed out of a car, stretching our legs and gathering our luggage. It was Sunday, and the end of our two day journey from my hometown in Connecticut to The Summit, a high adventure/service Boy Scout camp in West Virginia. The anticipation I had felt during the long trip quickly changed to apprehension and awe as I gazed
upon a rolling landscape of campgrounds and a massive zip-line overhead. Although I knew there were many fun and exciting things to do, this wasn't the only reason I was here. For three and a half days, I would help build a mountain bike trail for a nearby reservation and, as a reward, would get to use the camp's recreational area for two and a half days afterward.
There it was, a rock, the immovable object blocking my progress. It was Monday, my first day of work. After meeting the members of my work team, we traveled to the work site where I was assigned the job of moving rocks from the trail. I had been working for about an hour when I came to a huge rock, which I couldn't move. Even when I tried to move it with a rock bar, it wouldn't budge. After thinking about it for a while I thought, this rock is going to be easy to move because of the skills I learned all through my scouting career. Teamwork is a skill my troop and I learned together. We were able to overcome our immaturity and find ways to work as a team to get whatever we were doing done. Another skill that came to mind is working hard and playing hard go together. As a scout your are taught to pour yourself fully into whatever you are doing.