What makes a hero?

This Veteran’s Day, we have a chance to reflect on the heroes of this country. This is a day of celebration for those who fought/fight valiantly for our nation’s freedom and well being.

But, the celebration leads to the question: What makes a hero? Is it the guy who charges enemy lines in attempt to rescue a fallen comrade? Is it the cook or nurse who never sees the battlefield but still gives aid to the soldiers who are in combat? Is the soldier who was drafted more heroic than a volunteer? Are members of the armed forces the only true heroes? Or can a consistent mother be as much of a hero as the well decorated veteran?

I could go on with this line of questioning, but I think it is obvious that all of these types of people could be considered heroes. Anyone can be a hero. Everyone has their own unique challenges and has to overcome those challenges by showing strength and self discipline. It is how one reacts to their challenges that make someone truly heroic. The attitude they keep, their willingness to help others and how they do their duty are better indicators of heroism than is a single event or surge of action.

Yesterday, I had a discussion on courage with a group of young men. To them courage meant bravery and wisdom. The word courage brought to mind captains of ships in the midst of battle and various other images no doubt derived from one of the many Hollywood adventure movies. Of course, in their mind, the courageous always make it through their adventure alive and full of glory. But this isn’t always the case.

When I brought up the idea of moral courage they quickly understood that showing courage does not always result in fanfare and acclaim. The boy who says no to drugs shows courage but is probably not going to be accepted among his so-called friends. The student who refuses to cheat on an exam is courageous but may not ace the test and the man who refuses to entertain himself with dirty jokes, inappropriate images and bad language can sleep in good conscience but may feel isolated from his peers.

So, to me, a hero is defined by much more than a single life changing event. The soldier who charges enemy lines in attempt to rescue a fallen comrade is a hero because of his keen sense of duty, loyalty and love. Without those feelings he would not have risked his life for another, and would never have been considered a hero. The feelings in the heart of the drafted soldier can make him just as heroic as the patriotic volunteer. The teenager who listens to his conscience despite heavy peer pressure is heroic because he stood by his convictions. The mother who raises her children in love is also heroic even though she may never be recognized as such because heroism is rarely judged by its best metric: what is in the heart.

Scott

ps. this post was inspired by the MSNBC article found by following the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21725468/

Halloween 2007-

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This year Halloween snuck up on us a little bit. My family had it's traditional pumpkin carving activity on Monday and tonight (the 31st) we went to a community local church carnival.

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Halloween snuck up so fast that I didn't have time to buy a pumpkin to carve with my family. Too bad. I wish I had brought one to carve.

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Here are some pictures of this years festivities.

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Scott

Mackenzie was more interested in this dog than carving pumpkins.

It's always a better party when Aaron and Chanelle come:

My scouts decorated two trunks and gave out candy...See the dry ice? They had fun with that.

Some of the trunks were pretty elaborate. This was one of my favorites:

I invited my neighbors to come, and to my surprise...they came.

p.s. if you want to see my last years post on Halloween click the following link: Halloween 2006

Technical Difficulties -

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Here are some pictures of the boat race that have been long overdue. I noticed yesterday that I haven't posted anything in the month of October yet. Hopefully the blog drought is over.
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If I look at this activity from the boys point of view the event was an overwhelming success. Even though we didn't place where would have liked (our boats took last place and second to last place) all the kids had a great time.

But, from a Scouting perspective I had some serious problems with this event. In a nutshell, the lack of sportsmanship exhibited by most of the youth, the abandonment of the principles of Leave no Trace and most of the other adults apathy towards the chaos that ensued after the race made me quite frustrated on the ride home.

But the boys had fun, and that is all that matters right?? Well...I don't know.

So, in the meantime, I'm looking at this event from the boys perspective (that causes less heartburn for me).
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Here are some pictures. We really had lots of fun.
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Scott

Pumped up and ready for the campout!

The morning sunrise we woke up to.

Some of the competition.

The other groups boats were OUTSTANDING!!

On your mark...Get Set...

GO!!

I love this last picture. To me it shows that there can be success through teamwork, and that there is no task to great for those who are willing to put in the effort.

Cardboard Boat -

I know it's been awhile since I last updated this blog...the truth is nothing really eventful happened the past few weeks. I think that is a good thing because most of the time "eventful" activities often involve spending money, and until we can afford to fix Lynette's truck we are trying to avoid spending altogether.

One 'event' that has been unfolding rather slowly is a challenge made to us by a neighboring scout troop that meets in the same building as us. They challenged us to a cardboard boat race. The only rules are: use only cardboard, tape, glue and paint. Next week we will test our creation to see if it floats, and to see if the boys will paddle fast enough to win the race.

Our troop of 8 boys divided into two groups that would each build a boat for the competition. Our group wanted to build a boat big enough for all 4 of them to be able to race. So we figured out how to do that by first building models of several boat design options. Each boy built a model out of cardstock and then we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each design. From the models they choose one design to recreate on a larger scale.

Boxes were collected, duct tape was acquired and we went to work. We lucked out on a few boxes that were especially useful for our design. That helped out, a lot.

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We basically built a row boat. The boat looked pretty bad in the beginning, but it is turning out rather nicely now.

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Enjoy the pic's and stay tuned for next week to see how the boys did in the competition.

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Scott

Some of the models we built on day 1:

Careful Cutting:

If my calculations are correct...

I made some calc's to see if it would float or not on this piece of cardboard

(note--the boat design passed the math test, but the real test is the float test):

This is our troops other boat (under construction):

Our, almost final product:

New York Part 2: "The How’s" --

The conference in New York that I went to last week for work was really interesting, fun and worthwhile. I got to meet many other new graduates hired by my company from all over the country. I was very pleased to see diversity among the new and the company that I belong to. In addition, it was interesting to note NYC’s “personality” and how it differs from my home town.

At the conference we participated in short case-study activities, get-to-know-you games and of course, we listened to speakers. Some were good, others were excellent. One speaker got me really thinking. He talked about how, in this day and age, products and ideas are constantly copied by others. In the past, companies could establish themselves with a new process, idea or product; but now just as soon as a new idea comes along two or three other people copy it immediately.

So, he asserted, that in order for companies to stand out they need to have good relationships with their clients. Clients that enjoy doing business with you will continue to do business with you, even though there may be 10 other companies offering the same service. In some ways, client relations hold a higher importance to success that does the final product.

He then applied that way of thinking to our future personal career. He emphasized that our relationships and communication with colleagues and managers is what sets us apart in a profession with many qualified engineers. He called it, creating your own “personal brand”. While producing quality work is important the “hows” are much more important. How you communicate, how you dress, how you handle stress, how you carry yourself in public all affect your reputation, or “brand”.

Of course, that isn’t anything new, but the point that made me think the most was a quote by Thomas Friedman that explained why the how’s are so much more critical in this day and age:

"When everyone has a blog, a MySpace page or Facebook entry, everyone is a publisher. When everyone has a cellphone with a camera in it, everyone is a paparazzo. When everyone can upload video on YouTube, everyone is filmmaker. When everyone is a publisher, paparazzo or filmmaker, everyone else is a public figure. We're all public figures now. "

This made me think more about “the hows” and their influence on my future career path. Because everyone is watching I need to be mindful of how I conduct myself. Professionally, I hope I can build a good reputation and protect it throughout my career.

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To me the conference accomplished two important items. First, I left with pride knowing a little more of the history, current state and type of company I work for (on a national level). And second, I left New York motivated and energized to be an engineer and conduct myself in a way that will set me on an ethically upward path.

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Again, this post is too long but I have one more post in mind about my trip to New York, and I should get to that early this week. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the event of the conference.

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Scott

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