By Dom Rowland

I think that I can speak for everyone here this week, saying that LTC this year was indescribable. All week, we were divided into four chapters. These chapters were our homes; the people, our family. None of us got along perfect right away obviously, but bonds will always come around. Living with these amazing 11 people all week, I found it nearly impossible to leave, as the bonds formed have dried and cemented.

I came here to LTC this week and expected something much different than what actually happened. My main goal before I came here this week was to learn more about DeMolay and how to work efficiently for it. That may sound fine on the surface, coming to Leadership Training Conference, but it’s not as it seems. I was planning to come here, meet no one, just get the cold hard facts. I got both the knowledge I wanted and so much more. I got an experience to meet complete strangers from anywhere from within my own state to even another country.

My chapter consisted of people from every different jurisdiction in Region One. I walked into the Rollinsford cabin on Sunday knowing one person from my own chapter, with 9 strangers to meet. This task seemed the most unachievable to me over any other, but I took a leap of faith and started my first conversation. I had no idea what was to come next as I met person after person, forming the bonds of brotherhood. After all of us had met, there was no stopping the spawning friendships.

Through the entire week, we worked together as a chapter, facing every challenge together. Perhaps the hardest challenge our chapter faced was actually within ourselves. We didn’t always agree on most things, sometimes making it hard to progress and learn. But learn we did, out from every argument came a stronger chapter with new skills. We learned how to be effective brothers with each other. During the week after every problem came a group hug. We not only were required to be with each other, but we wanted to be with each other.

And now, as the week draws to a close, something comes to everyone's mind. We all can exchange numbers, emails, and Facebook pages, but we are still leaving. We are facing something even more monumental than becoming brothers, staying brothers. Never again will we be in that cabin for a week. My goal I take from this week is to put in my maximum effort into staying together with the whole chapter, and retain the spirit of the universal brotherhood.