“Hey, Phil, I found a good one.”

My eyes lighten as I hear these words. I am glad this could be an opportunity for me to get my first “job.” I say “job” because I am looking at a volunteer position not a real job, and this “job” is not for money but for fun. Doug, my soon to be boss and mentor, has just complemented me. He has this solid and rough voice like a rhino’s body, yet he has a heart as big as the sea. I then got a volunteer position to help teach at the nature lodge up North, at Geronimo in Arizona, for being an Eagle Scout, a good citizen, and available for the long summer to come.

I remember the first day I arrived, as I stepped out on the brown dirt to smell the strong pine smell of nature. It was a pleasant day. On that same day, I spent hours hanging out with the many friends that will be part of my nerdy life. And on the rest of that first week, we had a stupendous time.

That first week was also training week. We hate training week. However, we made it through the many hikes, preparations, and lessons they provided. The first week of the young, enthusiastic, and anticipating scouts began to pour into the many camps that Geronimo offers. I got to help teach the reptile and amphibian class to them. It is the best class to teach. I get to hold the reptiles and enjoy the nice cozy indoors with a good friend of mine, reptile Ben.

He is the awesome guy from Oklahoma with a Russian accent and a thing for snakes. He and I got along quite well. I could list all the rest of my diverse friends; however, the list is quite long. I ran errands for him and even taught little segments of his class for him.

On the second week, my family came up with our inspiring scout troop, 747. They ask me to visit their camp often. I made the mistake of forgetting to do that simple task. Thursday morning, I decided to finally pay them a visit. The first thing that I saw was the teary eyes of my parents. I run through the possibilities of what could have happened, and it was not what was to come.

“Your grandpa died last night,” my mother sobs. I too feel the tears come on as if I have hit an impasse, thinking about the sadness and loss of my very educational friend and family member. I tried to recuperate with the whole ordeal that day. Then, as I was eating, a friend of mine started complaining about chewing with my mouth open, and I could not hold back the tears; I told him about my grandfather with those sobs; he said he was sorry to criticize me. I also acknowledged my wrong.

Then, I realized that I should not stand around and mope about everything. But I should, as a friend of mine explained, “stay on the sunny side of life!” I now follow this path and can take life in a more enjoyable way.
I use this new skill I have developed to teach the able-bodied minds of the scouts about the reptile and amphibian merit badge for the rest of the summer. In the end, I learned from my experience with volunteering for Geronimo that when life gives you putrefied lemons, you throw them out and find some good ones for future use. And I can surely say that the lemons I found now are a nice clean yellow color.