Venturing is currently undergoing a change. The award system will be overhauled and gone will be the days of these medals. They will be replaced with new names and different requirements. While I don't have any information on the new changes set to come out, I do know that it will incorporate requirements such as a number of service hours. BSA's goal is to make the penultimate Venturing award as prestigious as the Eagle Rank. Truly an admirable decision, one that I wish happened before my time in this program came to a close. But then I also wish I had the chance to join the OA and go through that whole...ordeal. But that's beside the point, there's no use lamenting that which I cannot change.
BSA is moving forward: there's a push for equality in opportunity for girls and women in Venturing as well as for youth who are gay. Only time will show where it ultimately goes, but with Randall Stevenson, CEO of AT&T and a person instrumental in the push for equality, taking over as president of BSA in 2014, anything can happen.
Now with that being said, it's time to describe my time and effort in satisfying the requirements of the Gold Award. I will list out the requirements and talk about how I met each of them.
Back to business as usual:
1. 12 months tenure as an active, registered Venturer.
You know, I forget exactly what day I first registered, but it's been a few years. Check.
2. Earn at least one Bronze Award.
Outdoor bronze award obtained but not acquired. Check.
3. Served in a leadership role within the past 12 months.
Served as President of our council's Jamboree contingent just the other week. Check.
4. Must participate in a district, council, area, region, or national Venturing event.
I can name at least three. Jamboree, Venturing rendezvous, Camporee... Check.
5. Set and accomplish personal goals as it relates to:
- Citizenship - This past election cycle, I decided to get really into politics. I watched all the presidential debates, looked up information and stances from both sides, even explored people running for other local positions. I was the very model of an informed voter. What was the takeaway? Politics needs a reform. Lobbyists control the interest of Congress and too many politicians are focused on their careers and the next election to effectively do anything. Both "sides" are poorly run. George Washington was right to warn us of the divisive nature of political parties, something that can plainly be seen by the fact that third parties don't even have a chance. But that's a story for another blog. Check.
- Leadership - Truly, I have so much leadership experience under my belt that it's kind of ridiculous. In leading peers in my high school days I had a good 3 or 4 clubs that I was running or on officership for. These days most of my leadership involves guiding children on their way to adulthood by way of being a camp counselor. Even being the Crew President for the Jamboree taught me a lot about leadership and being patient. It brought much to light about dealing with those that disagree with my style, how to compromise for the best of the group, and how to deal with those that are obstinate. Servant leadership and empathetic listening are two skills I've developed and will continue to develop. Check.
- Service to Others - More than just a resume booster, helping others is a paramount skill emphasized by the World Scouting Association. For this, I wanted something really good. And while I considered something like a coin drive in my high school days (and it would have happened if the club I was in was able to mobilize better under my gentle guidance), I ended up being a part of an outreach group sponsored by my university to bring some groups from the first-year chemistry class out to the local elementary school to do some scientific demonstrations for the kids. It's not that it was necessarily a mammoth undertaking, however it did take a lot of planning amongst the groups. While some logistical hassles did occur, it ended up working out really well and the kids all loved it (fire helps to keep their attention, especially when the fire color changes). I wanted to bring the same sense of excitement for science to them that I had received myself by things such as this when I was in elementary school. And I believe I succeeded, by the look on their faces. Check.
- Community/Family - The best way I could come up with to benefit the community was to better myself. At first, I considered raising my amount of culture so that I'd be a better citizen. I later figured that was a bit of a copout (even if the book recommends that as an option). My answer to that was to better my ability to help others by way of renewing my lifeguarding certification and taking a Wilderness First Responder class offered through NOLS. Lifeguarding is physically challenging, while the WFR class was full of information and skills. 10 days or 80 hours of it to be precise. I learned more about preventing and caring for injuries in that class than through my cumulative experience and classes beforehand. That being said, I now have aspirations to take the Wilderness EMT course offered through the same company this coming summer. This is a plug for NOLS, by the way. It's a fantastic outdoor experience. The Wilderness Medicine Institute in particular has the best teaching I've ever seen. Check.
- Outdoor Experience - When first setting these goals for myself, I figured 10 nights spent outside and 20 miles of backpacking/hiking experience would be reasonably difficult to achieve. That was before Jamboree where we easily reached 10 miles a day and were outside for 10 days easy. So that added to the rest of what I've done since setting those goals means I've well surpassed it. And with that comes many techniques learned and improved. The next thing I need to conquer is backpacking cooking, and I am well on my way to figuring it out. Always strive to improve yourself. Check.
- Total Fitness - And speaking of improving yourself, fitness is important. But as I considered the goal I set for myself and started getting into it, I realized even more important is nutrition. So I first focused on that. Carbs, protein, cholesterol. I decided the best thing I could do for myself was drink more water, eat healthier, eat smaller portions, and then get some exercise in. So I did that. Not only do I feel better, but I've lost some weight too, which is cool. We'll see how that goes, but I would like to continue this new activity thing. Check.
6. Plan, prepare for, and lead two or more crew activity projects relating to at least two of the preceding areas.
The first activity that I'll count was the recruitment drive held Spring 2012. While it didn't end up growing our numbers hugely, it certainly took some leadership and community participation. It was also a lot of fun, I got to pull out a lot of different stops to get the kids interacting and show just how much fun we have.
The second activity, also taking place Spring of 2012 was the scout fair booth we ran. The president at the time, Matthew Greene, and I, decided to demonstrate some dutch oven cookery. The stunning display of outdoor experience from us as we figured out the recipes for pizza, cornbread, and peach cobbler, and then taught them to the others in our group so they could help run the booth was definitely a cool leadership experience.
7. Candidate must be able to recite the Venturing Oath.
Speaking of things that are being shoved out, the three different scouting programs will soon be unified under one Scout Oath and Law, as well as the replacement of the Venturing Sign with the Scout Sign. But as of now, the Venturing Oath, known by few, is as follows:
As a Venturer,
I promise to do my duty to God
and to help strengthen America,
to help others and to seek truth,
fairness, and adventure in our world.
Now this being the written word and also the internet, I have no way of proving I did that from memory except for saying a scout is trustworthy. But that being said, I was planning on reciting it anyway. Just thought you may want to know...although technically it never says you have to recite it from memory. Just saying.
8. Candidate must submit three letters of recommendation to the crew advisor that confirms he or she lives in accordance with the principles of the Venturing Oath.
Oh man. Well I'm working on this one. I'm waiting for one more letter to come in, but as you can see from the rest of it my work is done, which is why I consider this award gained. The only last requirement is:
9. Candidate should prepare evidence of completion of the work and submit it to the crew Advisor. The crew president, in conjunction with the crew Advisor, should hen appoint a review committee of four to six people including Venturers and adults. They should review the written presentation and interview the candidate to determine whether that person grew as a result of the pursuit of the Gold Award.
So basically what you're reading now is my submission of evidence. It'll basically be this post, cleaned up a little for readability. Then the fun task of having a board of review, or whatever the term for this interview will be.
10. Candidate must meet requirements before 21 birthday.
As of the time of this writing, I still have one year and 3 months. Completely doable. Most eagles I know don't even do their project until they have less than a year left.
Mission 1/4 accomplished.
