Gents.
This may be a little too late for our friend who was wondering whether to finish his Eagle, but I felt I had to add a post script to this dialog.
I stumbled across this thread by searching for Eagle Scout and College Application. My ten year old is finishing up Webelows and will start as a Boy Scout later this year. We had an organizational meeting this week.
The scoutmaster encouraged us to invite our son's classmates to attend the next organizational meeting. My wife and I have been conflicted about whether to include some of the kids because some of them tend towards being bullys. The last thing you would want is the bad apples from the school class joining your scout troop, right?
But after thinking about the scoutmaster's words at the meeting, we are thinking that we should try to bring them into the group anyway. The scoutmaster emphasized that Scouting isn't just about camping or outdoor activities. He emphasized community service, leadership, and the educational value of scouting. As I listened to his words, I also thought about my own scoutmaster and my experience in scouting.
You see I joined scouts at age 11 and was thrown in with a bunch of kids who were from different socio economic groups, some older and some younger. Some were kind. Some were smart. Some were smart alecks. And some were frankly bullys. But I stuck with scouts until I was 18 years old (I am 54 now) and progressed up the ranks. Our troop was not an "Eagle Troop" and our committee men weren't there at every step prodding us up through the ranks. But there were some substantial intangible benefits of participating in the program from the first day through the last months before I left home for college.
One of the most important benefits was the exposure that we all had to positive role models. My scoutmaster was a guy named Roscoe Masonheimer. He represented everything that was good and right about scouting. He wasn't a wealthy guy, but he had a heart of gold and a moral and ethical compass that pointed straight north. A friend and colleague from that time of my life wrote an online obituary for Roscoe in a blog at http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=247060 I guess my point is not whether getting your Eagle is worth it, but rather the value of scouting through Eagle. Roscoe taught all of us the values of scouting both because he lived by the Scout Oath and the Scout Laws as well as teaching them.
Which brings me back to a couple of points.
First, I think I'm going to invite all of those little hooligans from my son's class into scouting because I can't think of anyone who might benefit more from scouting ...the morals, the ethics and the values espoused and taught by scouting. And since there are older boys providing role models for the younger boys, there is a greater chance that these little guys might be helped to see a better way to lead their lives. One of the reasons these kids aren't better people right now is because of a lack of good role models in their families. If they spend even one year in scouts it may help them.
Second, our friend might have benefited from staying on even if he didn't finish his Eagle, education is a benefit no matter where you find it. The more you study, the better you get at learning. I managed to drag myself through an Engineering Physics degree at Cornell after finishing scouting. And a master's degree in nuclear engineering at MIT. Oh, and a law degree and a masters degree in tax law at NYU. There is something to be said about having a belief that you can do something you have never done before, which may be really, really hard. Getting your Eagle is certainly a confidence builder...for your entire life.
Third...(and this is where this reply turns into a bit of a lecture to myself) our friend who originated this thread had been in scouting for five years. He no doubt benefited from many hours, days and weeks of time volunteered by his scout leaders for his benefit and that of the other guys in his troop. Even if our friend never completed his Eagle, it was probably about time he gave a little back to his troop...to the younger kids and to his scout leaders, because that's what the Scout Law stands for (among other things) ...helpful, friendly, courteous, kind...cheerful...brave...and reverent. These are some of the concepts I would have liked him to have learned to apply when he got to his sixteenth year. The fact that he may have ignored the benefits he derived from scouting (and focused on the value of the Eagle rank) may mean that he didn't learn the lessons of the Scout Laws as well as he could have...both in terms of how to give back and how to lead. I hope I have learned those lessons well enough now to begin to return something to scouting while my son is in our troop.
So, yeah, I think it would have been worth it to go for it. If not for the award for the education and the life experiences.
And yeah, I'm proud I made Eagle...even at age 17 1/2. It's something I know I did even if I don't advertise it to my friends. It still makes me feel good when I think of it.
Hope this strikes a cord if someone else finds this thread someday. Best of luck to those of you who are in scouting now and in the future.
J.F.F.
BSA Troop 1
Santa Barbara
1966-1973
. My question is does anyone have their Eagle Scout? And how has it impacted your life/career? I know I could earn it but I hate... errr... dislike my Troop (i.e. no one in the troop is my age and all are very immature). Thanks for your time.
, I wish I did not wear glasses or I would try to be an Air Force Pilot.)
.
