I joined the troop at the end of 2013 and I have grown with the troop. I started off when 1st Claremont only had two patrols – Bats and Eagles – and the troop split into three patrols, adding Boks, that same term I joined. I can’t remember how long after, but the troop got too big and we got Swifts – the patrol I have been in since. The troop’s size has stayed pretty consistent and then the cubs started to come up. Again the patrols got too big and last year we split into 6 patrols.
According to my experiences as a scout there are stages you go through as you grow. You join as an annoying eleven year-old who just wants to have fun and after some complaining and much persuasion you do what you are told. At around twelve/thirteen you start becoming useful and then you are just a junior. You loose your title of annoying eleven year-old because you know stuff, listen to your PL, can tie a decent square lashing and hopefully have your Traveller. At fourteen/fifteen you start getting responsibilities and at around sixteen/seventeen you realise a lot of things mainly because of a thing we seniors have a love-hate relationship with: report documents. One of my many realisations is that I was an annoying junior myself – I know, can you believe it? But, hey. It’s all part of a process that shaped me to the person I am today.
People say that high school teaches you life skills but personally it has only taught me how to do things last minute and still get decent marks for it because there is no other time to do it. I must say though, Rustenburg girls are very good at last minute! It was actually with my time at scouts where I learnt these said life skills like how to estimate time allocations and how much food one needs for a camp (which I still don’t get right).
Some of the things that I look forward to every year would be competitions. Bonds are formed during these, you don’t get any sleep during the overnight ones, and you always seem to have a maths test the week after. There are moments of complete frustration when at the gateway of your campsite you have your team number on display and judges still ask your team number – are they blind or something? And those moments of being comfortable…. those stretchers become more and more comfortable every time you have a spin in one and then the judges don’t believe that you are comfortable. However the most fun you have is trying to spot all the judges from 1st Claremont. We go into competitions with the intention to have fun, and we have so much fun in them that we win.
I don’t think I have any bad memories from my time in scouts – if I do, I have forgotten them. Being a PL and working on advancement, especially Springbok, is hard and stressful but that was in the job description and this is the time I have come to appreciate the most because it has given me the most opportunity for me to improve. But these aren’t my fondest memories. You may think it might be winning the Rayner Trophy or Gordon Shield or going on troop camp or even being able to go to the World Jamboree. Actually it was the six days I spent with a bunch of seniors (Simon, Thomas, Caleb, Matthew, Rebecca and Michael Uphill) in the beautiful Outeniqua Forest without killing them. We also found out how friendships could end with a bad game of UNO. It was a wonderful time filled with hiking, naps, being stupid and having a great time.
I wouldn’t be surrounded by this big bunch of amazing people, have the great friends, share these awesome memories and be the person I am today if I didn’t join 1st Claremont in the first place. I am really grateful for the opportunities that my scouting career has given me and I have so much thanks for the people who helped me along my way.
