On November 16th, I had the pleasure to take part in the Spellman Stamp Museum's stamp collecting merit badge program. At first, I was pretty indifferent to the whole idea of stamp collecting. "Why would I ever need a stamp collection?" "What is there to even learn about stamps; aren't they just for sending letters?" However, after finishing the course, I have to say that my entire view of collecting stamps has changed.
Arriving at the museum, there really didn't seem to have much to see. The museum is a small building off of Regis college and if one tried, it could probably be turned into a small one-floor house. However, the history and content that the museum held were exposed to us right when we arrived. We partook in a scavenger hunt to really become intimate with the exhibited items at the museum. I was shocked and was at awe with the diverse stamps that were created not only in the United States but the whole world. The collection contained but was not limited to actual letters from the Heisenberg that you could see the scorch marks on, stamps collected at the time of the moon launch, and even some of the first set of stamps ever created.
Next, we moved onto actually collecting stamps. Not only did we receive packets of stamps of US presidents, states, and countries, but the instructor provided us with a large packet of assorted stamps that we could bring home. Whilst doing so, I have to give praise to the instructor. He was extremely knowledgeable and would do his best to make the course educational and interesting; even though I was by far the oldest scout participating in the event, there were a lot of pieces of information that I see should be taught in schools because of their importance.
Overall, I had an incredible experience in the stamp collecting merit badge. I feel like the couple of hours I spent were completely worth the experience. I highly recommend anyone with free time in the next session to also participate.
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