I’m assigned here as one of the instructors in the ecology/conservation area, along with Benny, Joe and Greg and occasionally Bruce. Andy is the director of the area. He has a car, and I think he’s in college, but I’m not sure. Bruce is in his sixties, I’m about to turn forty, and the rest are over eighteen, sometimes only just. It’s one of the hallmarks of scout camp that the chief directors of program areas are often adults who have just passed out of scouting. Many are Eagle Scouts — what Donald Rumsfeld called “the only award you earn before 18 that people don’t laugh at when you put it on your resume at 60.” it’s one of the upsides of teaching at camp: the staff has an age range, and not all the most senior faculty are close to retirement.
The trouble this set-up week has been that I had to go see my great-uncle, who is entering the last months of his life; so I missed Saturday, Sunday and Monday. When I returned, I found that Andy had gone to a funeral for a family member who completed his life. Between our absences, we found the E/con lodge a mess. We’ll spend the next few days cleaning up, but it’s one of the downsides of teaching at camp: the absence of one or two leaders can really slow down the program and preparations.
Outside of academics, my adolescent existence centered on swimming, soccer, the beach, my bookstore job and reading as much sci-fi as I could. The lone regret I still have was that I gave up scouting once I hit high school to free up time for studies/extracurriculars and that I never achieved becoming an Eagle Scout.
Many props for helping those young men reach such an admirable accomplishment.