On December 17th, two years ago, I achieved the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America. The BSA is an organization that has been under some criticism but it is one the best experiences I ever had. I met amazing people, all of whom I will never forget. I did things that I never would have without the support that was offered me in the BSA. And even though some people say that being an Eagle Scout doesn't mean as much as it used to, It has taken me places. Boy, has it taken me places! But I think most importantly, it stuck with me.
Physically, one of those places was one of the U.S. Virgin Islands, namely St. Croix. I stood on top of a hill overlooking our campsite. The pavilion was right below me and farther down, right before the brush that stood on shore, was a tree that grew yellow pods. These pods rattled in the wind and the sound was carried up to me, sounding like a great many rattle snakes from back home. Over the top of the brush at the shoreline was a bay. Jungle-like growth lined the far end of the bay. That jungle crawled up a steep mountain, or what passed for a mountain on the island, marking the end of the cute little bay. I was part of a trip to the island. It was a sort of summer camp/service trip. We did a lot of work on the island and helped a great many people. We also got to enjoy ourselves, sitting on white sand beaches and looking out over blue seas.
The view that stuck with me though, was the view from that hill. I was the media director for the trip, writing articles for newspapers back home. It really meant a lot to me because it was the culmination of years of work. I was an Eagle Scout by then and an Assistant Scoutmaster. It was a lot of responsibility, but something I had been building up to for years.
I went through lots of leadership training- scouting was good at that. It was a requirement, that to continue getting higher ranks, a scout must hold a leadership position. The highest of these was the position of Senior Patrol Leader. It was a highly coveted position by those that didn't have it. My time as Senior Patrol Leader was a productive time to learn and grow. I had quiet a few rough days and even more headaches. It would prepare me for the greatest challenge of my life.
I was a rather un-athletic fellow. I didn't care much for sports of any sort, normally preferring a mind-over-matter sort of view. And I especially didn't know anything about baseball, but it was coming time to finish my scouting career and get my Eagle Scout. That means I needed a project and the one in front of me was a big one. I was asked to renovate the baseball field behind my local community center. It was funny, because I never noticed there was a baseball field there. When I went to look at the spot, I realized there wasn't one. I stood corrected when I was taken several feet into the woods and saw the rusted, bent visage of a backstop. It was indeed a baseball field and it saw its last game in 1965.
A few months later, October 12th to be exact, the opening pitch was thrown out and its first baseball game was played. I had complained about rough days as the Senior Patrol Leader. Building a baseball field was much, much tougher than I thought it would be. I went for my board and attained the rank of Eagle Scout. I had done it! It was over.
I stood on top of that knoll in St. Croix and looked down on the open field and thought for just a moment, "You know what would look good there? A baseball field. I know how to build one after all." Then I shook the vision of the diamond out of my head. Two months after I attained my Eagle rank, I was still at it. I stuck with it, through all the years. Now, its sticking with me.
