There's a very false stereotype when it comes to Scouts, people always assume all we do is learn how to tie knots, pitch tents or help old ladies cross the road, all the while collecting badges for our shirts. This, however, is not the case. Most nights we play Dodgeball (with a tennis ball, you're better off hiding in the corner), some games invented in Scouts such as "Darling, Darling I Love You" and other games where the objective is to purely just let off steam and have fun.
Since I'm over 16 I'm now a Venturer Scout, so our meetings are a little different but still, no endless knot tying (although I can do them when necessary). The main reason I chose to blog about Scouts is it show that it's one of the best things I've ever been involved in and also to break down some of the stereotypes. The experiences I've had through it are amazing and the friends I've made are for life. Most of my best memories in life so far come from scouting activities. We've camped in Cork and Dublin, went to a Munster rugby match and subsequently lost our voices, we learned how to pitch an Icelandic tent in 9 minutes, we've gone kayaking and cliff diving, the list goes on.
Some of the most famous people in the world are Scouts, including Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama, Richard and David Attenborough, David Bowie and many more. Bear Grylls who is the youngest man ever to be appointed Chief Scout (the big boss) at age 35 is one of the coolest people I know of. He climbed Mount Everest at the age of 23, just eighteen months after breaking his back in a parachute fall in the SAS.
So when people say to me, "You're in Scouts, that's so stupid, why do you even go?", I just smile and ignore them, because I know that I'll probably get to do things they never will, all thanks to Scouts.
- E.R