“I used to be very, very introverted.

[The Boy Scouts] are some of the people that pulled me out of my shell. They are loud, rowdy and kind of crazy, but I was able to connect with them quite well. They became my first good friends.

I’ve been doing [Boy] Scouts for 10 years. As of right now, I am the ASPL [Assistant Senior Patrol Leader] for Troop 55, the biggest troop in the nation.

We have [around] 200 people, so we have six ASPLs, and I am one of them. I’m in charge of running all the meetings and some of the special events. I get to make a lot of PowerPoints and run all the games [for the troop].

[Being an ASPL] means responsibility, something fun to look forward to every week. Sometimes [it is] a little bit annoying to work on but usually it is fun.

I love [Boy] Scouts because I get to be with my friends [and] I get a good opportunity to practice leadership skills. It’s just a lot of fun between all the combined elements of learning, playing and getting to experience all kinds of new things. [For example], I got to go on a nine-day canoeing trip over the summer [of 2024 in Finland]. That’s something most people will never be able to do.

There were 11 of us in Finland. We canoed about 85 to 90 miles around a chunk of Lake Saimaa. Usually, we did between seven and 12 miles a day. We’d stop in the morning for a walking break and lunch about halfway. Then we set up camp, go to bed, get up the next day and do it again.

36 hours after [getting back from the canoeing trip], I left again for a backpacking trip.

We went to Yellowstone [National Park]. We ended up hiking across a set of planes into a valley and then up [a mountain], where I got altitude sickness. On the last day, [we had] 50-pound backpacks and booked it seven miles in four and a half hours to get back to our van.

[Now] I definitely have a lot more mental clarity about hard work. Honestly, [the trips] were a very nice break to be away from the usual hustle and bustle of normal life and technology. I can’t really say it was fully relaxed, but it was very nice.

[The Boy Scout trips] showed me that I can be away from my family, that I’m responsible, and that I’m able to make decisions by myself.

Outside is where we belong. Being cooped up indoors all day is just sad. It’s not healthy. I like the smell [of outside], I like the sights, I like being outside, I even like doing hard work. I’ve just always felt that way.”