Philmont article by Jonmarc

Jonmarc W

On my Philmont expedition Trek, I learned a lot about myself and life. One of the lessons I learned was to value how lucky and fortunate I am to be living the real American dream. Another would be knowing that anything in life is possible if you have the right attitude and mindset. And also, when living in an environment where it's completely different from life at home, it is important to stay true to yourself lose control of emotions or you will suffer deeply. Hopefully these life changes will influence my self to become a better person in life.

Being away from all of my possessions and luxuries was very annoying, but it taught me to value what god gives you. For example, on of the most basic things in life I learned to value the most was living in a house and having my own room. Out in the wilderness you don't have things like toilets and air conditioning, and the usual stuff that we take for granted. Living with only the basic tools for survival made me very humble to my life back in civilization.

Usually, when someone faces a very tough task in life, they are expected to give up and not finish. But at Philmont, were we faced an 80 mile strenuous trek, we had no choice but to keep going and persevere over our struggles. At times, I admit that I really wanted to go home and quit, but I knew I had no choice. That in turn taught me that when I'm facing a difficult struggle in life and want to give up, to continue it until I'm finished.

At Philmont, not only did I have to stay strong physically, but I had to stay strong mentally. Out in the wilderness for two weeks takes a toll on the mind in reference to your attitude and motivation. At sometimes you think you're going to crack and loose all will power and become very difficult to deal with when you find that need to stay mentally tough.

At Philmont you find a lot about yourself and become stronger. Like when the going gets tough you'll always know that you can do it. You'll know that you'll stay mentally fit too. So would I do Philmont again? Defiantly not, but I learned that I'm glad I did it