Our next award is for growth in Venturing, recognizing a crew member who has most demonstrated improvement in the past year. Please join me in welcoming this year’s winner, Sarah Harrison.
Sarah has been with us about two years, the last year as the crew’s treasurer.
She’s been elected treasurer twice. As I’ve said before, that’s not an easy job and it’s one that if done incorrectly can cause havoc. And in the crew’s history, we’ve had some who have caused havoc. So it’s always pleasant for adults when someone serves in that role who is smart, responsible and detail-oriented.
And honestly, Sarah has a look that could freeze a volcano so she is persuasive as a debt collector.
But this award is not for the best treasurer. It’s meant to highlight someone in the crew who has improved a great deal. Many crew members spend their first year trying to figure things out and connect with others in the crew.
Sarah was a bit different. Of course, so is her dad. And if you want to know what Sarah is like, just get to know her dad.
One of my favorite memories of Sarah was a backpacking trip we took last year on the Foothills Trail. Sarah does not love backpacking but she decided to give it a try.
It’s not the hardest hike in the world, nor the easiest. We did about 11 or 12 miles the first day and Sarah and her dad hiked together, setting their own pace which was a bit behind the rest of the group.
After we reached our resting spot for the night, I sent back someone to check on the Harrisons. And when they got there they offered to take Sarah’s pack. Proudly, she refused. She started the hike she said, and she was going to finish it.
As an aside, Mr. Harrison later confided that he wished the offer was made to him because he would gladly have taken them up on the offer.
Sarah made it and finished the hike with the rest of the group the next day.
Of course, she is being honored not for what she did on that hike but for her growth.
She has stepped forward to become a leader this year, several times standing in for Austen when neither the president nor either of the vice presidents were around. It wasn’t a job she asked for but just like our hike, she completed the task.
One of my greatest pleasures as an Advisor has been watching youth grow. Not physically but emotionally and intellectually, into the fine young men and women they are destined to become. Sarah’s growth in the past year has been just such a treat.
For all of those reasons, I am proud to declare Sarah as our 2014 recipient of the Growth in Venturing Award.
Congratulations!