Blog

儿子5、6岁时加入了Cub Scouts. 那支队伍是我家家长和另两位父亲发起成立的。白手起家，活动器具都得自己亲手打造，每周的活动要先备课，大量时间和精力的付出。一开始只有10几名小兵，到儿子cub scouts复员时已经发展成4，50人的队伍。记得复员欢送会上，请来的表演者特意表演了中国杂耍节目，我们是唯一一家中国人。

接着父子俩加入到离家较远的高一级的Boy Scouts，至今。

整个童子军活动历时10多年，所从事的内容与学校活动不沾边，对考试成绩没有帮助反而要占用好多学习时间。看你想得到什么，GPA？SAT？ACT？No。操练，野营，野炊，登山，小到野外生存能力和个人意志的培养，大到对社区、社会和国家的责任感，Yes。好处是不言而喻的。但的确，这不是一件容易的事，所有的活动都是课外活动，所从事的活动又大都在艰苦的环境里，10几年的风吹雨打严寒酷暑，对儿子们是个挑战，对妈妈也是个考验（记得那次冬天野营，孩子们的帐篷就支在雪窝窝里，心疼哦），而爸爸们的参与更加至关重要。活动能不能搞得起来能不能搞得好，全靠爸爸们献力献策献时间。10几年来我家家长一直是部队里的“领导”，开着自家的车，用自己的年休假，北卡，南卡，墨西哥湾，加拿大湖区，越是远程的活动越有他，这样的父亲在我们的队伍里还有好几个，这些年一起共事下来，他们都成了很好的朋友。也可以不这么费时费力，那么多人，总能给孩子找到carpool, 只要你不在乎在儿子这些特殊的旅途中爸爸去哪儿了，无所谓爸爸的言传身教，得与失，每个人有自己的权衡。

现在儿子已经成为了鹰童军，全美大约3百万童子军中， 只有3%可以达到这个最高的衔位，我们为儿子感到自豪，也为父亲自豪，儿子能坚持，很大程度上是因为父亲的坚持。 摘抄一段儿子的感想：

Scouting has been the single longest activity I have been a part of, and it has taught me more than any other activity I have participated in throughout my entire life. I still remember my days and experiences as a Tiger in Cub Scouts, and the friends I made at that age have stayed with me throughout my entire Scouting journey all the way up to now. Looking back, I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I remember all the difficult camping trips, hikes, orienteering courses, and more, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that if I had the chance to do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks to Scouts, I have had my eyes opened  to a lot of new experiences and ideas that I would never have been exposed to had I not chosen to join in elementary school. I can proudly say that my entire scouting experience has shaped me into who I am today, and that figure is something I am tremendously proud of. It has given me the confidence to be a better leader both in school and in clubs, and that is a valuable still I will carry with me for a lifetime…..