Aging Out - The Door Stays Open
| Category: | Aging Out |
|---|---|
| Notes: | Delivered by the Scoutmaster or another adult leader to Scouts who are aging out, or about to. Works at the farewell itself, at a Scoutmaster conference near their last birthday as a youth, or at any meeting with older Scouts. Part of a series - see also aging-out-what-im-taking-with-me, aging-out-the-send-off, and aging-out-watching-them-go. For a full ceremony, see /ceremonies/aging-out-ceremony. |
A lot of Scouts think their last meeting as a youth is the end of Scouting for them. I understand why. There's a birthday, a last campout, maybe a ceremony, and then it's over.
I want you to know it doesn't have to be.
There's a role for you on the other side of that birthday. Maybe it's as an assistant leader, standing where I'm standing. Maybe it's teaching the one skill you know better than anyone in this room. Maybe it's working on summer camp staff, where a whole new group of Scouts will think you're the coolest person they've ever met. Maybe it's just showing up for one campout a year because the younger Scouts need to see what they're working toward.
Here's what I won't tell you: that you owe it to us. You don't. Go to school. Go to work. Go see the world. Some of the best leaders this troop ever had walked away for a few years first and came back when they were ready, with more to give than when they left.
And some of you will come back a lot later than that - with a Scout of your own, standing in the back of a meeting room just like the one you grew up in, realizing you still remember how to tie a bowline.
Whenever it is, and however it looks, the door stays open. Your place at this campfire doesn't expire.