52 Explorers, 12 mentors, and our Program Director all returned from their Summer Wilderness Trips this past week! Not only did everyone return safely and without injury, I’m convinced that everyone returned a better person than when they left (I know I did). There have already been stories traded about the weather (hail storms, thunderstorms, sunny days, cold nights, etc.), the challenges (65 miles of mountain biking, 40-50 miles of paddling, 10-20 miles of hiking, getting to the tops of peaks, etc), and the experiences (animals seen for the first time, star-filled skies, huge rapids, huge mountains, campfires, etc). Friends came back closer than ever and mentors returned closer to each other and to their Explorers.
On our trip (and I’m sure on all of the others, as well), there were happy times, sad times, exciting times, scary times, and challenging times. There were times when we as mentors asked ourselves (silently, of course) why we were doing what we were doing and times when we told everyone around us (out loud, of course) how obvious it was why we were doing what we were doing. There were times of reflection, times of prediction, and times of conversation. Most importantly, there was learning, growth, character development, and inspiration (among mentors and Explorers)! I have no doubt that every single person on our trips returned more Action-oriented, more Courageous, a more Excellent teammate, and a Stronger communicator.
However, that is not enough. Despite our successes, we weren’t perfect. Therefore, we can’t be content with the status quo. As I mentioned in our first blog, we must always strive to be the most effective, professional, sustainable organization possible. As such, we have already begun the internal evaluation and reflection necessary to uncover those areas where we fell short and those areas where we excelled. We are committed to eliminating the first and to repeating the latter. That is how we get better and, more importantly, how we build better leaders/explorers. I can’t wait to get started. But, for now, I’m happy knowing that We’re Back!
Onward,
Todd