While many young students use their first college years to find out what to study, who they are, and what they want to do with their lives, Ballardite Sean Hendricks is doing that self-searching in the middle of the Swiss Alps.

Hendricks is a Troop 100 Eagle Scout and spent the first six months of this year in Europe working at Scouting events and traveling.

Currently at home before he returns to Europe in December, Hendricks said he's grateful for his experience.

"I have no set degree in mind so this gives me a chance to figure out what I want to do," Hendricks said. "My friends are sitting in their dorm rooms drinking beers while on any given night I'm sitting by a fire in the middle of the Alps with a guy from the UK and a girl from Hong Kong.”

A third generation Scout, Hendricks has been a scout since he was six years old. His father is an Eagle Scout and his grandfather a Scout Master.

"I joined the same group of scouts that my father has been in since he was six. I knew from an early age that I wanted to become an Eagle Scout, too," Hendricks said

In 2007, when Hendricks was well on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout, his father took him to he World Scout Jamboree in the UK.

"I was 15 when I went to the UK jamboree and it opened my eyes to scouts all around the world," he said.

Hendricks said that perhaps the biggest eye opener was the fact that half of the scouts in attendance were female.

"That surprised many American boy scouts. U.S. is one of only two countries that separates girl and boy scouts," he said.

After the UK Jamboree Hendricks knew he wanted to go to the next jamboree.

With high school graduation looming, he applied to become a short term staff member at a Scouting camp in Kandersteg, Switzerland.

Hendricks was one of two American Scouts selected to work at the camp.

For three months Hendricks rotated from cleaning staff to kitchen staff.

"We were working very hard but it didn't feel like work because you're just hanging out with friends. Yeah, you’re cooking but you're in the middle of the Alps," he said.

"I learned more in three months there than in the four years at Ballard High School."

Hendricks explained that the biggest lesson he learned is how to “deal with people".

"Everyone is generally the same worldwide but it can be quite difficult to communicate with all the different languages and cultures," he said.

Staff got one day off per week and Hendricks spent every free day climbing, hiking, and exploring the Alps with his new friends.

"We had a total of 16 days off and I could spend a hundred more days on those trails," he said.

After the camp, Hendricks traveled . He visited Berlin, Amsterdam, London, and Luxembourg before visiting Sweden, where he worked and attended the 2011 World Jamboree.

"I don't even say I have been to Europe because I have so much more to see," he said.

Of the cities he did visit, Hendricks said he felt most at home in Stockholm.

"It is very similar to Seattle in scenery and nature," he said. "I just like the Swedish people and food. It reminded me of home."

In December, Hendricks will return to the camp in Switzerland for a nine-month period.

"My Dad is proud of me. When he was 19 he traveled through Europe," he said. "My Mom is proud too but she misses me."

Hendricks said that despite how much he enjoys his European adventures, he will always return to Ballard.

"Ballard is my home," he said.