Philmont was a test to me. It was a test to see how prepared I was for this 12-day backpacking trip. It was a test to see how I could lead a crew of 12 boys and two adults. Philmont was a physical and a mental test and going through both was a challenging road. I could not believe that my friends and I survived this trek. I am extremely proud of everyone that has gone through this experience, and I would definitely visit Philmont again.

Hiking on high-elevated trails, eating dehydrated food, and pitching and packing each day seems very hard. The first couple of days were pretty much new to me, and as the days went by, I got used to hiking on the trails, eating dehydrated food, and setting up camp. It was like a daily routine. Our ranger, Paul Hugus, showed us around in Philmont and made sure that we were definitely prepared. Without him, our trek would’ve been hard and we wouldn’t know what to do at each camp. Our crew accomplished this trek with the help of our ranger. Throughout the trek, the hiking, eating and setting up made it fun and enjoyable. We saw the sunrise on the Tooth of Time. We saw swarms of ladybugs crawling on tree trunks. We saw beautiful flowers and insects. It was so nice to see this natural environment. Seeing the interactions in the environment made me relax my mind and my muscles.

Once again, I learned that being a leader is not a title. It is not a prize, but instead it is a responsibility. Some days, being a crew leader was a pain in the ass and other days, being a crew leader was fun and enjoyable. Even though crew leaders do not have to do duties, but they also have to facilitate them and make sure they get done on time. It was hard for me because I lacked assertiveness. I was too shy to yell at them to do things, and some days, my crew members would step up and take over temporarily. This made me feel unsupported and useless and if I had the chance to go back in time, I would use my energy to yell at them

Richard Chow once said, “When you're stuck with someone for 24 hours and 14 days, you understand them more than you'd like to.” I have understood those who like me because of my personality, not because of my actions. The bad decisions I made as a crew leader caused my crew members to think I’m dumb, but making jokes with the crew let my crew members to think I’m a joyous person. I understood that some people don’t like what I do as a hobby and not everyone is perfect. Philmont made me go through emotional stages and at times, it helped me get up whenever I was on the ground.

Philmont was a great High Adventure opportunity and I would like to thank those that helped make this adventure possible: - The Philmont 2006 Committee for helping the scouts prepare for Philmont - Mr. Chang and Ms. Xu for being Crew 2’s advisors - Crew 2 for being with me thick and thin throughout the trek - Everyone else including family and friends for supporting us along the way. Philmont was great, and it isn’t “was,” it “is great.”