I loved YW as a teenager. Loved it. I almost never missed an activity, despite having a busy school/extracurricular schedule. YW was a priority for me. Despite that, I don't remember most of the activities we did. But there are a few that stand out.
One activity that I remember well was visiting the prison in Phoenix. I'm not sure why we took a tour of the prison but at some point my friend and I must have been talking or something and got a bit behind the rest of the group. We took a wrong turn and ended up maybe in an area we weren't supposed to go to. I remember seeing a man, locked alone, who had tattoos all over his face and who scowled and growled at us. He looked terrifying. We hurried to find the rest of our group and felt relieved to catch up with them.
LESSONS LEARNED:
I think at the time the lesson I learned was that there are people in the world that are dangerous and scary. And I never wanted to end up in prison.
Looking back, I see other lessons. First, perhaps I should not have been so quick to judge. Being strong and having tattoos doesn't necessarily make you scary or dangerous. (Though the fact that he was in prison makes it more likely that he was, but even then it doesn't guarantee it.)
Second, be in the right places. I was a bit careless and ended up in an area that I wasn't supervised and was not where I was meant to be.
Third, choices have consequences. When we make a choice (good or bad), we are also choosing the consequences (good or bad).
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