This program has changed me so much over the past six years and I’m sad to say that I’ve probably had my last year. When I first started, I was quiet and insecure about a lot of things. I hesitated when it came to doing something. But now – I’m capable of so much more. I’m outgoing again, confident and there isn’t much that I hesitate to do.

The Mackinac Island Honor Scout program is more than just a program. I’m sure that most people say this about things that they are involved with, but being a member of MIHS is something special; it’s something that most people can’t say as they’ve never been part of the program, and those who have been, know how hard the application process is.

From the first training in January to the last training in August before we leave for the island, an incredible change happens.

Over the course of four day trainings and two weekend trainings, scouts learn multiple skills. They learn how to march in step; raise, lower and fold flags, along with a deep understanding of flag etiquette – a bleeding flag, how and why certain flags are flown at half-mast, how to fold the different flags, and how to care for and hold a flag; trivia facts about Mackinac Island, the Grand Hotel, the MIHS program and Fort Mackinac’s history; learning how to cook and clean while having fun at the same time.

In the duration of a year, a certain respect for the flag, uniforms, ourselves and each other.

When I went through some bad times with family members passing away, close friends moving away and other friendships dissolving; through all of it, I knew that my Mackinac sisters were there for me, that our friendships were stronger than anything, and that they’d be there for me if and when I needed it.

The experience on the island isn’t a common one either. Standing on guide duty you get to meet people from different cultural backgrounds and from entirely different lives.

While on the island this past summer, I met one extraordinary woman. She was fostering three children that came from a Refugee Camp, where they spent seven years of their lives with no one to take care of them. She had been with them for a while and took them on their first vacation which happened to be to Mackinac Island. I talked with her for nearly twenty minutes and she told me about the things that the kids had gone through…. I can’t even put into words, but this lady, this woman opened both her home and her heart to three amazing kids who had nothing and she ended up giving them something, both a place to call home and a family.