My name is Danielle Frovarp, and I am serving as this year’s Youth Course Lead (YCL) for the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT)! I would like to share my journey through NYLT and how it has improved my life exceedingly.
NYLT is an eventful experience that combines physical and mental challenges with fun games and training to help young Scouts grow into successful leaders in their troops and everyday lives.
Before NYLT
My NYLT journey started at Grizzly Base Scout Camp. I was the typical 13-year-old Scout who thought she knew everything about Scouting and leadership. Truthfully, I didn’t truly recognize or know Scouting’s values, and I led in the manner of a dictator, which led to the nickname my troop gave me, “Dictator Dani.” At the time, I was convinced NYLT would be a boring course with long trainings that would force me to change in ways I didn’t want.
Little did I know that NYLT is so much more than that.
During my time as a participant, I faced many challenges, such as meeting new people, attempting games that were challenging, doing so with a patrol of girls I had never met, navigating conflicts with my patrol as we struggled to work together, and even getting a concussion midway through the course.
The Turning Point
A specific memory was when my patrol had to set up our campsite on the first day of camp, in the pouring rain. We were miserable. We didn’t know each other yet, and we had to set up camp with no skill and little guidance. Our campsite was far from perfect, so much so that later in the week, it became the cause of my concussion.
But my patrol and I took that situation and chose to learn from it. We decided to work together, rebuilding our camp the right way, and started working cohesively as a team, being patient with one another and forming decisions as leaders. This really changed the trajectory of my NYLT. This was my “Ah-ha moment,” the time when I really saw the value of this course, what all the tests and challenges were doing, and why they matter to a leader.
I had felt like I truly learned and understood the values of Scouting, and I did. I walked away being able to use those values in my everyday life and use them to help me lead in Scouting and various places.
Life After NYLT
Since then, the things I have done serve as living proof of my change in character and leadership. I am actively serving as the Youth Course Lead for NYLT, a role I had set as a vision for myself while a participant, which helped in rebuilding my troop that was once struggling to survive, and started expanding on what I did at home outside of Scouts.
I started playing rugby, a sport I had never heard of, at sixteen, helping in taking our first-year team to state. I also worked at the YMCA as a kindergarten after-school teacher, and, using my Scouting skills to help teach youth, I am closer to my goal of being a teacher one day.
While every Scout’s experience at NYLT varies from person to person, I have to say that the greatest opportunity NYLT has given me and many more Scouts has been the chance to meet people who began as strangers and became lifelong friends. Over the past four years, these friendships have ceaselessly inspired and pushed me to serve others and to be a better person, Scout, and leader.
None of what I do today would be possible without the friends NYLT has given me. Ultimately, because of these experiences and people, I have become a more empathetic leader, something that didn’t come easy to me at first. Nowadays, my nickname is no longer “Dictator Dani” but instead just “Dani.” In all honesty, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done or be who I’ve become if the skeptical 13-year-old me had never gone to NYLT.
This year will be my fourth year on staff, and over my time, NYLT has helped me in developing a deep reverence for Scouting that is hard to put into words. I am excited to share that devotion, and I hope that you have the opportunity to develop your own deeper admiration for Scouting and leadership this summer!
Why You Should Go
If you are asking yourself whether you should attend NYLT or not, my advice is simple and heartfelt: do it. (Click here to learn more and to register.) This kind of course isn’t the same experience elsewhere. Participant registration will remain open until the course is full, so apply soon for priority consideration. I look forward to meeting you at NYLT 2026!
Yours in Scouting,
Dani
Troop 10-4
Black Otter District
NYLT 2026
June 12 – 18
K-M Scout Ranch
