It was a great day at Haller Middle School in Arlington on Jan. 24 when the 2009 University of Scouting took place. The Mount Baker Boy Scout Council-Boy Scouts of America sponsored the event, and the primary goal was to train boys, as well as adult men and women, to be Boy Scout leaders in the field.

University of Scouting President Dewaine Craig kicked off the day with a slideshow featuring the motto, “Proud to be a Scout.” Wayne Brock, assistant chief scout executive for the Boy Scouts of America, was the featured speaker and reported on an interesting local statistic: the Mount Baker Boy Scout Council is ranked fourth nationally of all the 303 Boy Scout Councils in number of leaders trained each year.

As a second-year Boy Scout working on the journalism and photography merit badges, I had the opportunity to personally interview Brock.

One of the first questions I asked him was, “What is your job description?” Brock, who is second in command in the national Boy Scout Association, replied that he has three main jobs as assistant chief scout executive: responsibility for the development for all books and literature for the Boy Scouts, marketing the materials and delivering the programs and materials.

I then asked him, “What was the toughest decision you have ever made?” He replied that the real tough decisions were when he had to fire people. He added that many times he really liked and knew the people, but they just couldn’t do the job.

After asking him, “How does scouting benefit the community?” Brock stated that scouting teaches leadership skills and trains boys so they will be more successful when they go into the world. It also helps the boys become better people by building strong character and teaching integrity through training and service projects.

The last question I asked Brock was my favorite question. I inquired about what was the best advice he could give me as a second-year scout. Brock hesitated for a moment, and asked me if I had a goal to be an Eagle Scout. “Well, yes,” I replied. Then he stated, “Well, this is very simple, because there will be times in trying to get your Eagle Scout badge when you will feel when you just won’t be able to do it or the merit badges will be so hard you couldn’t get them completed. My advice is do your best.”

It was a privilege to meet Brock and I will always, always do my best to follow his advice.

Carl Worthey, 11, is a Kenmore Boy Scout. As a requirement for his merit badge, he conducted an interview and wrote an article about it.