Life to Eagle: Scouts

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When Scouts think of earning Eagle rank, the first thing that comes to mind is the Eagle Project. It's true that this is a very important part of earning Eagle rank, but recognize that it is only one part of the process. Additionally, you need to:

Be active in your troop for at least 6 months as a Life Scout.
Live the Scout Oath and Scout Law... and be prepared to explain how you do that.
Earn 10 additional merit badges, including your remaining required Eagle merit badges.
While a Life Scout, serve in a position of responsibility for your troop.
Take part in a Scoutmaster conference and Board of Review when ALL requirements are completed.

And all this must be done by your 18th birthday. Please understand that deadline must be respected and planned for accordingly. It is the recommendation of our Troop leaders that all requirements be completed at least one month before your 18th birthday to help avoid complications.

But of all these requirements, the project seems to cause the most anxiety and certainly requires the most input and effort from the scout. But before you get started on this, it is important to understand the primary requirements, as outlined in your scout handbook:

"While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. "

Those words "plan, develop and give leadership" are the key here. In order for a project to qualify for Eagle rank, you must:

Demonstrate planning of your project

Demonstrate development of your project

Demonstrate leadership of at least two or more people in the project implementation

PLANNING DEVELOPMENT LEADERSHIP

ALL THREE parts are equally important and all three must be apparent during each step of your project, from proposal, to planning, to development, to implementation, to the reporting of your final results.

This may seem intimidating, but all of the activities you have taken part in during your time has a scout has worked to give you the skills you need to tackle this. You can do this!

But keep these requirements in the back of your mind as you move through this process. If at any time, you feel like others are hindering you from taking this responsibility, speak up. It's YOUR project. Not the troop's, not your parents', not your big brother's, not BSA's and not whomever is the beneficiary of your project. Yours.

One more thing to remember as you get started...

While this project is your responsibility and the decisions and choices you make during this process are yours, that does NOT mean you are supposed to do this alone. Smart people never think they can or should do a project on their own. They recognize that there are others even smarter than them with more experience who can provide the information and guidance that will lead to a successful project completion.

So while you can't ask someone to do your project for you or to make your decisions, you can and should ask questions and seek out advice and recommendations and guidance, so that in the end, YOU can make informed decisions. Above all, this project is a learning process. You will be expected to make mistakes. You should expect problems to pop up. But you are also expected to learn from your mistakes and gain experience and knowledge from those around you during this process. That's life!

Continue onto the "Life-to-Eagle Steps" tab to review the process of planning, developing, and demonstrating leadership of your Eagle project.