I’m Tyler Greenwood, a former army cadet with the 1725 Royal Canadian Engineer Army Cadet Corps in Chilliwack, BC. I could talk to you all about the world travel, the achievements, and the accolades during my time in cadets. But the ribbons and badges don’t show how my character was shaped. How cadets made me a part of a community that I believed in. Or how it gave me stories with friends that we reminisce about every time we get together.
Being able to belong to a community is everything. Having people you can count on, even when your life is a mess. Having mentors that you can aspire to be, and who fight for you despite having no obligation. Having the volunteers who drive you to opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford. Having the coach that spends their own money and free time to pick you up at five am to drive to biathlon practice.
These mentors were a big influence on my decision to become a High School Trades & Technology Teacher. They ignited my interest in biathlon, which I have now supported Team Canada at the Junior World Champs in Kazakhstan and coach locally with Sea to Sky Nordic Biathlon. They are why I chose to become a CIC Officer, giving back through Expedition and Biathlon programs. They consistently modelled the character I aspire to have and shaped me into an upstanding leader and citizen of my community.
So who am I? It doesn’t matter. Who you decide to be in other people’s lives, whether through being a part of the cadet program, being a friend, a mentor, a parent, or being a person of character. You matter. You make a difference in the lives of people around you, even if you don’t know it.
That is what the cadet program does, and it changed my life.
