Ben: My story is about kind of overcoming my fear of the outdoors and camping. So I have been in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. My parents introduced me to it, and I followed the path through Tigers, Wolves, Bears, Webelos, and then eventually I joined Troop 107 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

And, my goal…I knew I wanted to become an Eagle Scout. You know, my dad came close and should've been an Eagle Scout, but some unfortunate circumstances happened. So I was like “I'm gonna become an Eagle Scout.” My mom wants me, too. I want to. Not a lot of people end up becoming an Eagle Scout, and it's just an amazing achievement. 

So you know, I followed all the requirements, and I gained merit badges. There were some difficulties because one of them was you had to pick between a swimming merit badge, hiking merit badge, or cycling. Initially, I was trying swimming, but it just didn't work. I'm not too comfortable in the water, so eventually I switched to hiking and I had a lot of fun just enjoying the outdoors talking with my mom as I would just walk-through places like Kurt Gowdy and even just around the Greenway in Cheyenne. But the biggest challenge was when I was pursuing the camping merit badge since that is another required one. Because I was pretty uncomfortable in the outdoors initially, and one of the requirements is you have to have some sort of week-long camping excursion. So eventually--I was 16 years old or maybe 17--and I knew I had to get it over with. So I signed up for a summer camp at Camp Loll in Wyoming, and at the time I was the senior patrol leader of my troop.

And it was kind of a unique experience because the camp had an activity called the “Fellowship of the Moose” that they did on Tuesday night. It basically consisted of me walking up and all the other senior leaders of the troops walking up and getting recognized, and then they would follow us and lead us through this path in the woods. And they had this course about how to become a better leader. It was almost, kind of like philosophical in a way, and it was really nice because it started at sunset and it was dark by the time it finished. There were a lot of nice torches lit up, and I received a nice little necklace with a bead tied to it. So I remember that, and that experience, it kind of showed me that being in the outdoors can be fun. 

Over time, you know, it led me to wanting to go to another summer camp with my troop in Wisconsin the next year. And the summer after I graduated high school, my friend said, “Ben, do you wanna come with us on a camping trip that we want to do? We want to make it a yearly thing.” And I said, “Sure! I love spending time with friends and just camping leisurely in the outdoors.” Even though I was in a camper at the time, I got done with the campout, and I remember being in the car talking to my mom, and I told her, “You know, I kind of wanted to do that again and the next time, I think I want to be in the tent.” So yeah, that's kind of my gradual progression of getting comfortable with the outdoors.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.