i dont think im a "paper" eagle. i guess i just dont like to bother waiting around when i could get going and move on to other things. thats just the way i work. when i got my eagle i was also a brotherhood member of the order, and a freshman in highschool.
i dont recommend getting it young, especially that young. but different strokes for different folks. i'm the kind of person who sets goals and gets done what i can. waiting around can be a waste of time and cause people to get bored and not follow through. i knew i'd get busy with other things and didnt want to risk not getting it like my brothers had both almost done. so i dedicated most of my time for a year and a half working on rank advancement and am glad i did. i went to every merit badge powwow the council and my district offered, worked hard, and learned a lot. about scouting, about the things the merit badges were teaching, and also about life, and about "doing your best" (as the cub scout program so greatly stresses) right now i dont have time to spend on merit badges like i used to. i havnt gotten an eagle palm in almost a year. or a merit badge since october.
and to set the record straight i was almost 12. my board of review was 2 days before my birthday. so its not AS extreme. lol.
the NYLT (national youth leadership training) program the national BSA piloted in my council last year talks about goals. i was staff for this and memorized the standard they thing goals should have. they say goals should be SMART goals. (Spacific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevent, and Timely)
the goal of eagle at that age was my biggest one at that time. and probably the biggest one so far. i set a time that was attainable, and i caught the spirit of scouting. thats the purpose of the eagle. to grow as a person, to make goals and achieve them, to work and sweat, to become a leader, with values with ethics and values as your guide.
i think if you set a goal, and follow through. be it eagle at 11, or eagle at 17 and a half, you arent a "paper" eagle, you've learned the things that Baden Powell wanted you to learn, and became the person that everyone since has strived to become. thats what the eagle scout is. thats what its all about. goals as extreme as this are what pushes us to our highest limits, the individuals envolved, and the scouting program. no one goes higher than the eagle.
wow that got long
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