Ishaan Reddy

It’s safe to say I did not have a typical Scouting experience. 

I joined the Boy Scouts in 2019, shortly after my family moved to Livingston. For about a year, I worked toward earning my Arrow of Light. Then, in March 2020, I officially crossed over and became a Boy Scout. And then, the world shut down.

A global pandemic brought everything to a halt. For the next year, Scouting looked nothing like I had imagined. The scouts who joined the troop alongside me missed our first service projects and our first summer away from home. Meetings were held over Zoom, and campouts took place in our own backyards. Progress was slow, and much of what makes Scouting special felt just out of reach.

Eventually, the pandemic came to an end, and things began to return to normal. We resumed in-person meetings, campouts, and activities. Even though I was technically a year behind, it never felt that way. I met my mentors—older scouts who were eager to guide me through my first real steps in Scouting. I went on my first campouts, service projects, hikes, and week-long summer camps. I learned how to tie knots, navigate with a compass and map, and cook meals over a camp stove.

But more than anything, I made friends. People I may never have known had we not shared the same trails, challenges, setbacks, and experiences that shaped our time in the troop.

Fast forward another year. It was January 2023, and I was elected to the Patrol Leaders’ Council for the first time. Becoming a Patrol Leader was a journey of its own. I led scouts on campouts, helped them complete requirements, and passed on the lessons my mentors had given me. I made mistakes—but those mistakes taught me just as much as my successes did, and they helped me grow into a better scout and a better leader.

More recently, I became one of Troop 12’s Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders. It was during our first meeting of 2026, as I looked out at the gathered scouts—some I had mentored, others entirely new—that I truly realized how far both the troop and I had come since the days of Zoom meetings and backyard campouts.

My mentors were gone, I had taken their place.

To some, Scouting is about the skills you learn. To others, it’s about the achievements and ranks you earn. For me, both of those matter—but more than anything, Scouting is about the journey and the people you meet along the way.

During my time in Troop 12, I’ve met and befriended incredible scouts and leaders, and together we’ve accomplished some amazing things. I’ve learned countless life skills: how to cook, how to navigate, how to teach, how to lead.

It wasn’t always fun. It wasn’t always easy. But through it all, I learned to appreciate the good moments and persevere through the difficult ones. Scouting shaped me for the better. It helped make me the person I am today.

To all of Troop 12’s alumni who mentored me—thank you for guiding me along my Scouting journey. To all the troop’s adult leaders, past and present, thank you for the time, dedication, and effort you’ve given. This troop would not be what it is today without you.

And to all current and future scouts of Troop 12: I hope you enjoy your time here as much as I have. I hope you learn valuable skills and go on to do incredible things. But most of all, I hope you make memories that stay with you for a lifetime.