Boy Scout Troop 325
Scoutmaster Minute
Don't Look Down on Anyone
January 8, 2008
Larry Polyak, Scoutmaster

This past weekend I drove my son Erik back to college in Davis. He is staying in a three story dorm on campus. On each floor of the dorm, they have a Resident Assistant, or RA for short. That's an older student, usually a Junior or a Senior who gets free room in exchange for helping out. They give guidance to the freshman and take care of any problems that arise.

On the bulletin board, they posted a short biography of each RA with information like where they are from, what their major is, and what hobbies they have. They also have "What advice would you give to an incoming freshman?" and "What is your favorite quote?". The RA on Erik's floor is a girl named Megan in her 3rd year, and I thought I'd share with you the wisdom of this college Junior.

For advice to incoming freshman she said "Read the book before each lecture. The instructor will make a lot more sense if you do. " I thought that was pretty good advice. Too often in college I went to class without reading the book first and it was only later when I did, that it made sense. Then it was too late to ask questions. This sort of goes along with the Scout Motto of "Be Prepared". It's easy to say "Be prepared" but in some cases, you really have to think - what does that mean in this case? In this case, it means coming to class prepared by reviewing the material first.

The other thing that I liked was her quote. For her favorite quote she chose one from Jesse Jackson who said "Don't ever look down on someone unless you are helping them up." I thought was a great quote for someone in her position of helping younger students, and is also one that we should all remember.

"Don't ever look down on someone unless you are helping them up."