Selection Weekend – Day 1

I arrived early Saturday morning with my rucksack.  I headed up to the daunting marquee where I registered and got my photo taken with my new name: number 84.

I was told to walk up to the top field and started to set up my tent. Once my tent was all pitched, I helped two scouts next to me, who were struggling, to pitch their tent. I then had to collect firewood for the evenings campfire and then it was time to get briefed.

At the briefing they introduced themselves and briefly explained why we were here and what we would be completing. After this, I grabbed my day sack and walked to the field to meet those who would be in my patrol for the first day.

Our first activity was titled ‘Minefield’ – here we had to cross the grid through a path without stepping into a mine. We completed many of these tasks quickly and renamed all our patrol members with odd and interesting names: Twinkle Toes, Potato, Curly Wurly, Backpack, Shorty and myself French Fry.

Once we completed all our activities it was time for tea, a choice of casserole or chilli with a pudding of cake and custard. We all ate quickly and then rehearsed our skit: The Enlargement Machine.

We gathered around the campfire and waited for our turn to perform our skit. It was a hit. We watched the rest of the performances and then I sat around the campfire with my new friends.