Wimachtendienk

It means brotherhood for those of you who don't know and its the perfect word to sum up how I feel right now. For the past three summers of my life I have disappeared to canoe country in the far Northland of Canada and Minnesota. It's one of those jobs thats just hard to really explain to people that haven't been there and even harder to judge the type of job you do. One that many think I'm crazy for doing.

For three incredible summers I've done my best to carry out my job, to provide a wilderness experience like no other. My summers have consisted of me taking out a group of youth aged 16-20 from all over the country on a two week excursion into the woods where one week is spent providing service to the trails used in the Northwoods and the second week is spent on a canoe trip. Throughout the entire experience I've always tired to challenge my participants to become a man of character; to know what their beliefs are, to stand up for them and to always be finding ways to improve upon personal flaws. This past summer I went to the Northwoods with one goal, to find a way to close out my Scouting career and change some lives while I was at it.

I finally can say I feel like I've done just that. Today I received and email from one of participants that only contained the following message "I think you've shaped me into a man of character...you were a fantastic role model and influence on my life, thank you."

Im so blessed to have had the experiences that I've had Up North and to have had support in working up there from my parents and Mallory.

"We have been Up North and part of us always will be..."