13 yr old eagles
Russell L. Ray (rray@POCI.AMIS.COM)
Tue, 20 Sep 1994 14:55:18 MDT
I think I'll add my two bits to this thread too even though my thoughts have
been echo'ed before.
I received my eagle when I was 14 due to two things, leadership and laziness.
The second one almost won except I had a mother that never gave up on me. I
have two older brothers that both received their eagles on the same day, the
younger received his at 13 and the oldest at 16. I had the chance to earn
mine by 13 except I was lacking a leadership position. I had to wait for
an opportunity, I was in a large troop, before I could gain this requirement.
During that time, I got lazy and took 2 years to do my project.
I don't fault anyone for my laziness, but I was on the "fast" track to begin
with. Had I had the leadership experience, I probably would have kept the
scouting drive inside me and completed palms. As it was, I got my eagle and
coasted through the rest of the program not earning anything else. I did
help the younger boys a lot with teaching and their rank advancements.
Now as a SM, I run into the same thing that I did, laziness and apathy. I
hate to get in the road of a scout that is gung-ho and on the fast track. If
I do or some other adult, they generally run out of steam and get the lazy
track.
As it has been said before, if the scout is ready for eagle, no matter what
age, he should get it. I have found that if the adults get in his way, the
scout will lose interest and may not continue on the trail.
YiS,
Russell L. Ray
SM, T331 Pocatello, ID
e-mail: rray@poci.amis.com
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