Scouts rise to Eagle Status

Proudly wearing their sashes crammed with coveted, colorful badges, showcasing their acquired skills, five Samo students stood in line awaiting the ultimate honor, the reward they have been working toward for years. The feelings of trepidation are finally dispersed when the five replace their now obsolete heart-shaped badges, signifying their previous rank of Life Scout, with brand new eagle insignias, therefore joining the elite service organization that is the Eagle Scouts, the top tier Boy Scouts.The five Samo students who were recently promoted to Eagle Scouts are juniors Eric Gironda, Jager Metz and Tucker Moody and seniors Andrew Capron and Cheyton Jain. These five are all members of Troop 2, one of the two regional Boy Scout groups. The other regional troop, Troop 67, has not chosen their Eagle Scout recipients for this year yet.“I got involved in Scouts through a friend who invited me to the guest night that Troop 2 has and I had a blast,” Moody said. “I joined only a week later and my experience has been one that I will never forget. When I joined, I wanted to earn Eagle because my father and his two brothers are Eagle Scouts, so I wanted to uphold the tradition. I feel very relieved to have reached Eagle because I can now concentrate on leading and I don’t have to worry about rank anymore.”Metz said the requirements to become an Eagle Scout are grueling, and there have only been about 300 Eagle Scouts in the troop’s history of 66 years.“It’s a lot more difficult to become an Eagle [Scout] in our troop because you can’t apply until you’re 16, whereas in most troops you can apply when you’re 13 or 14,” Metz said. “The people in charge feel that we’re not mature enough until we’re at least 16, and in order to qualify, you have to have over six months of leadership in Scouts and have to complete a service project, which is the biggest thing.”The service projects are community improvement projects taken on by aspiring Eagle Scouts.According to Metz, Capron reorganized a track shed, Jain built a shed for a school, Gironda cleared brush along a trail and Moody built risers for Will Rogers Elementary School. Metz, who also built a shed, said he put about 500 hours into his project over the course of a year.Scoutmaster Steve Marcy, who has been in charge of Troop 2 for 23 years, said that being in Boy Scouts is a unique opportunity.“Scouting teaches leadership and teamwork as well as dozens of skills, including first aid and communication,” Marcy said. “Through the process of becoming an Eagle, boys develop responsibility and self-confidence, becoming knowledgeable citizens and over the years develop deep and lasting friendships.”Besides the honor of being an Eagle Scout, one of Troop 67’s Eagle Scouts Brian Kong, who got his Eagle Scoutship last year, said that being an Eagle Scout can have other benefits — he was recently granted a scholarship from Gelson’s for $4,000.According to Kong, he had to submit three different essays and an extensive list of his Boy Scout trips and experiences, as well as volunteer work and two letters of recommendation. When he moved on to the group of finalists, Kong was interviewed by a board of representatives from Gelson’s.To Kong, this scholarship was a reward for all the work he has put in as a Boy Scout and an opportunity to aid him in paying for college.“It feels amazing to win such a great scholarship, but I could not have done it without the support of many mentors,” Kong said. “This scholarship is a recognition of everyone who has helped me every step of the way.”Capron said that Boy Scouts has provided him with a close group of friends as well as the opportunities for adventure in nature.“I think the best part about being in Scouts has been the sense of friendship and community I’ve established with my fellow scouts,” Capron said. “The opportunity to give back to the community that has been so great to me my whole life as part of becoming an Eagle is amazing as well. I am very thrilled and honored to have finally reached Eagle, and I am looking forward to remaining an active Eagle Scout for the rest of my life.”Jain believes that being in Boy Scouts has made him a better person and has changed him.“Without Boy Scouts, I would be a socially inept kid still trying to find the solid group of friends that I have met through Boy Scouts,” Jain said. “It feels amazing and sad to be done because I went through so many years of Boy Scouts and I will have to leave them behind at the end of this year.”Marcy said that Scouts is meant to expand the boys’ view of the world and make them become responsible young men due to the large number of nature-related activities Boy Scouts undertake.Gironda agrees that Boy Scouts has provided unique opportunities that are both enjoyable and educational.“Over the year, I went on dozens of backpacking, canoeing and other nature-oriented trips,” Gironda said. “I have traveled to some of the most remote areas of wilderness in the United States and I was lucky enough to go through scouting with some of my best friends. We have learned skills that most people living in Santa Monica don’t have.”Although becoming an Eagle Scout is a great honor and something Metz has been striving for, he said rank is not what being a Boy Scout is about.“When I joined, I wanted to be an Eagle Scout just like everyone else,” Metz said. “[Now,] I think the rank is sort of secondary. My favorite part is going and doing all the amazing things we do. We paddled in the Adirondacks in New York, scaled the Tetons and went backpacking in Yellowstone and we circumnavigated Catalina. These are the real reasons why I am a scout.”jpitsker@thesamohi.com