Selection Day

Well today possibly starts another adventure of a lifetime, this time, from a different perspective compared to the one I experienced in Sweden in 2011.  It was an early start for me today, making my way to the Selection Event in Nailsea at their Scout Hut HQ.  Before the event, I had no idea what was happening at this event, but I knew if I went there with the mindset of just trying my best, I knew there wouldn't have been any more that I could have done.

When I got to the Car Park that morning, I arranged to meet someone that I knew who was on my Selection Event from my Jamboree Experience in Sweden.  We met and we walked to the Scout Hut, as had been arranged,  We were conversing and saying just how nervous we were for this Selection Event, even though we both said we wouldn't mind if we weren't selected because of out past experiences.  When we got to the Scout Hut, about 5 minutes after leaving the Car Park, we noticed that there was about 14 other adults already in the room.  These Adults were all older than us (considering we have both not long been 18), some were fitter (others frailer), but no matter what, every single one of them greeted us politely and definitely put my mind at ease.  If any of you are reading this, then Thank You for that, I am greatly appreciated.

After the introductions were over, the Avon County Selection Day was to begin.  We started by going into a room and organising a presentation that could be given to a Unit that was attending the Jamboree about all of the relevant information that could be required for them to know prior to the Jamboree itself.  The presentation had to last 15 minutes; but had to cover a number of topics including Hygiene, Weather Conditions, Knife Safety and many other pieces of information that they needed to know.

after the Presentation, we were taken to Glenny Woods, a Local Campsite, where we had to complete the task of building a Campfire Circle Seat.  This activity was not supposed to test our Handyman Skills, but it was to test how well we communicated, worked as a team and our enthusiasm throughout the task.  This went without any faults and I enjoyed every moment of it, thanks to the group of people I was with.

We then went into a Hut where we had the opportunity to talk to a member of the CST Team about the Jamboree (the Joker was his Name) where we managed to find out anything that we wanted confirming about the Jamboree, or anything in the run up to the event.  After he finished his presentation, we were then able to converse among ourselves for a while about the Jamboree and get to know our Peers just in case we were selected to go to the Jamboree and learn more about each other.  A number of the people fascinated me with the stories they told me about some of the events they had been gone to as part of the Scout Association.

During the presentation and the general chit-chat, we were individually called into a separate building where we were interviewed about why we wanted to go to the Jamboree (the worst part of the day for me),.  In the end there was nothing to worry about and the interview went smoothly, and , hopefully, I had done enough to get selected for the event in 2015.

After the drive back to the Scout Hut, I had to the opportunity to speak to a number of my group whilst going back to the Car Park and said our goodbyes.  It then suddenly dawned on us that we know had an anxious wait to see whether we were going to Japan, a 2 week wait that would feel like eternity.