I had just been promoted to go into the Boys Scouts, and I'm leaving the cub scouts behind. I'm in the Boys Scouts and I am fresh meat. I'm ten years old and surrounded by mentors and old teenagers that look like giants to me. I attended the first meeting on a Saturday morning at 9:00 am. The sun was up, and the heat started to rise. The nerves are great and in my mind I just wanted to impress them and have a great time. The older boys started to build a rappelling station. Immediately I think "I want to be like them". The meeting was the funnest thing I had experienced since a long time ago, we did a lot of fun activities. Before the meeting was over they announced a one week camp that was next week. The camp is the best camp in Puerto Rico it is called "Campamento Guajataka". I went home and during the whole drive I couldn't get out of my mind the camp will begin the upcoming week. A week passed and I had just finished my camping bag with all my stuff. I had my compass, sleeping bag, boots, hat, knife, flashlight, notebook, Official BSA handbook, fire starter, and all type of gadgets that made me the happiest kid in the world because it made me feel like a spy like James Bond. I still remember how happy and excited I was, not only because of all the gadgets and equipment my parents were there, supporting me every step of the way. I have considered my self very lucky, because I know a lot of people only dream to have a family like mine. I have such supporting parents and they are always there when I need them and even when I don't. I still remember waking up at 5:30 am, in the morning of the camp. Immediately I was up and ready to go, I was egging my parents to hurry up and get on the road.

We had just left the house and it was a two hour drive before we arrived at the camp. I remember listening to music and my mother being worried and saying to be careful with several things. After a while of listening to my mother's babble I just looked out of the window and started to think what I should expect for the camp. I have a great imagery of the sun rising and peeking just behind the shoulders of the mountain. I remember squinting my eyes as the sun rays came in contact with my hazel eyes. It was a matter of seconds where the sky turned from black to orange. There were barely clouds and just like that those few seconds stayed in my mind forever .It was a beautiful and perfect morning to go out camping. I was just so excited and kept on thinking that every troop in Puerto Rico was going to be there, and I had the honor to represent my troop which is the oldest troop in Puerto Rico. I got to the camp and I was just so happy and I felt proud to wear and show off all of my patches, medals, and uniform. I located my troop and headed over to camp-site "C". Just when i got to the camp-site there were like cabins and thats where we were going to sleep. I saw that all the small kids like me were with their parents, when I saw the older kids they were standing among themselves and without their parents. I immediately headed towards my Mom and Dad, and I gave them a kiss on the cheek and told them good-bye. My Dad understood and said good-bye and started walking away. On the other hand my mother felt sad because she thought I felt embarrassed of her. My Dad called her after a long, warm, and comforting hug, she finally she got some courage and let me go. I started to prepare the campsite and the entrance with the older guys. Then I started to prepare my sleeping area which were bunk beds, and I chose the bottom bunk. The first day of the camp was just amazing and the weather was perfect, with just the right amount of sun and cool breeze.

I still felt like a new person and I started to get to know the boys there. They were all funny and nice, each had a different sense of humor, but yet they all looked and acted like brothers. I would always noticed that there would be one boy telling us what to do. Then I learned that he had the position of Senior Patrol Leader. He is in charge that everything goes according to plans and needs to solve any problems. The Senior Patrol Leader called us and made us stand in formation, just like the army does. He started calling us one by one, and assigning us every merit badge that we are going to be participating in. After a hard day of work the whole troop got in formation and we all headed to the flag ceremony. The flag ceremony is always done before eating dinner. After the flag ceremony, it is always tradition to sing cheers of the troop. My Troop was the loudest, biggest and was clearly the best in the camp and in the Island. We arrived at the cafeteria, and after all the work we have done, we are all starving! We got a tray, got the food, and ate like animals. We repeated eating like three times. It was actually very good. I got back to my campsite, and it is time to go to sleep. Whiles all the kids were screaming and causing disturbance. I'm not going to lie, I was one of them. After many attempts of making us trying to quiet us down. After we went to sleep for punishment the staff of teenagers and adults made us at 2:00am get up and stand without moving for fifteen minutes. But to me it felt like two hours. Even though we are un Puerto Rico, it gets chill at night. You could hear some kids shatter there teeth because they were cold and others were falling asleep. The Senior Patrol Leader gave us a mini speech of responsibility, respect and obedience. During the whole speech I was absorbing every little bit of it like a sponge. That I could think of, that was a very difficult situation for me, even though it came out like as a positive out come, I would never like to be in that position again. That was a moment that I opened my eyes and realized, "Wow! I have to grow up, and put some goals in front of me if I want to be successful at life." Since that moment I believe I drastically changed, not physical but mentally. After that first night passed every time they said it was time to sleep I would be the first one in bed, because I did not want to get in trouble. During the entire camp I gave my 100% in every sport activity, merit badges, and even doing favors. I just wanted to be like the older guys, they were my roll models and I had a goal, that I will be better than them. I was the only boy whose parents didn't need to them. This was officially the first and longest camp without my parents, just because of that I felt like I accomplished something. In this camp I did things I would normally wouldn't do. For example I held a snake for the first time in my life in that camp. I could say it was the best camp of my life. For sure I will never forget that camp and the people, and activities I did in "Campamento Guajataka".

Basically the moment that they made me stand at night for punishment really impacted me and made me realize the silly and immature I was being in some situations. In my troop, there is a tradition that every year there is an activity known as the "Court of honor". In the "Court of Honor" they give out award and certificate that you may have earned in the current year. After six month after the camp it was time for the "Court of Honor". Everyone was dressed nicely and everyone had a smile on there faces. There was a moment during the ceremony that they announced one of the most important awards of all, "Best Scout in Camp Guajataka". There was a moment of silence, and everybody was expecting one of the big and older scouts. They said my name and everybody, including me was surprised. I felt like the happiest person in the world! It was a feeling that just entered my body and crowed all over! When I said I wanted to be like the older guys, I meant it, because six years later and before I came to IMG Academy in Florida, I was the Senior Patrol Leader of the Troop. I then had little kids, like I used to be, that looked at me as a role model and one day would be in my position. This was a moment of the many that really made me mature and made me be where I am now. I I'm proud that my parents supported me in the Boys Scouts, the boys scouts made me grow up. After I left my position of Senior Patrol Leader, I thought when I first joined the Boys Scouts, and that I accomplished my goal. Whats my next challenge because I know nothing is impossible when you dedicate to it.