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EmberMike

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Everything posted by EmberMike

  1. EmberMike
    I think that's kind of an unfair assessment of her motivations. She didn't join to get Eagle, she joined to tag along with her brother and take part in the adventures she saw him having, and she genuinely enjoyed the scouting expeirence. She's been in scouting for over 12 years. Longer than some kids who start at Tiger and make it to Eagle. As long as I was in the BSA as a youth. The majority of that time, she has willingly gone unrecognized for her accomplishments and still participated in all of the activities that don't earn you a badge or a rank. I can't blame her if maybe after all o
  2. EmberMike
    Admissions offices aren't likely to ever tell anyone outside of the office why they chose one kid over another. So it's kind of hard to say for sure. But it must be beneficial to some kids to hit multiple activities in the same category. Or some reason why guidance counselors advise kids to do that. You're right, colleges aren't stupid, and I'm sure they see right through the easy overlaps in activities. Maybe those overlaps count less, but they still have to count for something or why would anyone bother? I suspect maybe the logic is something along the lines of "I earned this one prest
  3. EmberMike
    So for some reason it only just occurred to me that I had the Eagle badge on my uniform and wore it while 18. I think it was just the last 3 months of high school, so we're talking about the occasional troop meeting and maybe a camping trip. And then to my brother's COH a few months after that. In my defense, I had no idea about the rule, and had someone told me, I would have immediately brought my uniform up to code. I kind of like the idea of including the square knot in the Eagle kit for a COH. Sometimes maybe it seems like Eagle is the end of the road for the older scouts, especially
  4. EmberMike
    Really? Then why do colleges care about kids doing multiple things in the same category of activities? They know the star running back is already fast, he doesn't need to do spring track to prove it. But he does anyway. How many different things can a band kid join? Wind ensemble, jazz band, marching band, concert band, etc. It's all the same, playing an instrument, but just more of it. Maybe scouting is entering that phase of things, for better or for worse. I had heard of a kid a few years ago in BPSA and BSA who wanted to earn the George Washington's Scout Award and Eagle S
  5. EmberMike
    I think every scout probably has had a part of the program they struggled with or were just weren't as good at, even if they did get through the requirements. I also hope people don't look at the Eagle Scout badge as some sort of confirmation that anyone who wears it is highly proficient in each and every task associated with the rank. Especially many years after those merit badges were earned. It also looks very set up for the reality show. Did they have to cook eggs in a zip-lock bag? They're in a full kitchen. I'm guessing the producers asked them to do some camp cooking and intentio
  6. EmberMike
    Ahh.. I see now. Yea, that seems kind of weird.
  7. EmberMike
    Sorry, I'm still not following... Are you saying that National doesn't expect us to abide by the divided room policy anymore? Just seems surprising if true, that they would just turn a blind eye to this and give up on the privacy rule in cabin situations.
  8. EmberMike
    A lot of the requirements (especially in the early ranks) are skills-based, and could certainly match up well with similar learning in other programs. A good chunk of the First Class reqs are very easily applicable to any scout in any organization. Even if you rule out the "Since joining Boy Scouts..." type of requirements, the bulk of the rest of them cover things like cooking, knots, nature, map & compass, swimming, and first aid, all of which are sort of universal scout skills learned in many other programs. I'm not a council rep so I can't speak to what they would do when present
  9. EmberMike
    What are you saying? This isn't a rule anymore? I haven't heard that...
  10. EmberMike
    Will it? Among who, the leaders and parents in the unit who will all likely know what happened and that it wasn't a big deal? What about the reputation of the unit itself if a YPT violation is not reported? I wouldn't want to be the pack/troop that is known for being lax on YPT policy.
  11. EmberMike
    It's certainly not a failure to be a scout but not reach Eagle. I think sometimes it gets equated to "failure" or "not finishing" if someone doesn't earn Eagle, but from an achievement perspective it's still years of work, commitment, and effort required just to be a scout at all. If a kid joins in 1st grade and is active into high school but doesn't reach Eagle, that's still a decade-long effort in a fantastic youth leadership organization. If it's a question of documenting participation in something (Johnny should finish Eagle so he can put it on his college application) a kid can (and
  12. EmberMike
    It's a violation and has to be reported. It sucks, because it seems pretty clear that this guy had zero ill intention and it was just a moment of desperation in the middle of the night trying to get some sleep. But we can't pick and choose when to follow the rules and when not to, especially when it comes to YPT.
  13. EmberMike
    Do a Google Image search for "scout uniform display" or something similar and you'll find tons of ideas for displaying an old uniform and badges. Just my 2¢, if you want to display the whole shirt, you need a pretty big frame for that. And depending on how much space you have in your home/office/room where you want to display it, these frames can end up taking up some serious wall space. Especially if you find any other memorabilia that you want to add to it. I've seen frames that include everything, Cub and BS uniforms, books, even pinewood derby cars. In my opinion, it's a bit much. An
  14. EmberMike
    What I was getting at was that if a female crew member, who previously could not join a troop and work towards Eagle, now wants to do that since the rules changed, I would encourage them to do the same as Sydney. Join a troop, work towards Eagle, and if they don't have enough time to finish, apply for the extension or petition the BSA to let them start now. There is nothing that I'm advocating for Sydney that I wouldn't also advocate for when it comes to any female scout who wants to work toward Eagle Scout rank.
  15. EmberMike
    As I understand the policy, that seems to be how it's supposed to work. It is certainly how I think it should work. In theory, take the handbook for the other organization and put it next to the BSA handbook, and match up requirements. If they seem to be the same requirements, check them off one by one. Of course that ultimately will be open to some interpretation, which I think the council review part of the process should be able to sort out.
  16. EmberMike
    Not sure what you're implying here, but I hope it has something to do with this topic. Surely her being in the fortunate position of coming from a family that has the means to travel a lot is not a bad thing, or definitely not something that should be held against her in this discussion, right?
  17. EmberMike
    Do those crew members want to work toward Eagle? If they do, I'd encourage them to do the same Sydney and see if there is a path for them to do so. For the record, I don't advocate for her being given direct credit for work/requirements done un-officially. I support her being given requirement/rank transfer credit for things done in Scouts Canada officially, same as any boy could potentially receive. I strongly disagree that she was trying to give the BSA a "public relations black eye." Just because you disagree with her viewpoint (one that clearly many in the BSA happen to agree,
  18. EmberMike
    Can we at least agree that there is crossover in subject matter? Leadership, athletics, outdoor skills, family life, personal development, environment, citizenship, first aid, service hours, etc. Getting the Chief Scout's Award hits a lot of the checkboxes for BSA reqs. It's different, sure. But having it would likely qualify someone who joined the BSA to cross off at least a few requirements. I don't know of a specific example of the credit being given. But it's in the advancement committee policies, so it can happen. I suspect it's open to a bit of interpretation by whichever local cou
  19. EmberMike
    The BSA and Lucasfilm both seem to be betting on the future rather than the past. Big risk, potentially big reward. And yes, even for Star Wars it's a risk, the franchise isn't invincible. There was already talk of people getting burned out on Star Wars before Last Jedi opened. Both organizations know that in order to endure in future generations, they need to figure out who their best audience will be, and not just play to the past and present audience. Both do seem to be forging ahead with a plan to create new fans, even if that means old fans lose interest.
  20. EmberMike
    It's a relevant award that bears many similar requirements a scout would go through on the trail to Eagle. It's not the same, for sure. But it's a service-oriented leadership and outdoor skills award that has requirements that would match well with some BSA requirements. Regarding the transfer of rank/requirements credit from a non-BSA organization, from the Advancement Committee Policies & Procedures book: "A youth from another country who either temporarily resides in, or has moved permanently to, the United States may join a BSA unit and participate in the BSA advancement pro
  21. EmberMike
    I've been trying to dig up more info on this but I'm coming up mostly empty. What's confusing is why previous experience outside of the US wouldn't count towards requirements as a Lone Scout, but can count towards requirements as a Pack/Troop member. The requirements don't change much or at all (especially at Troop level) for Lone Scouts. So in a hypothetical situation where a non-US transfer scout takes his previous experience to his council and asks for the same review of requirements that any other non-US transfer scout would ask for, the Lone Scout gets rejected while the Pack/Troop s
  22. EmberMike
    It seems far more likely that they would be grandfathered in, though. You are right, nothing says that this will be the case. But I can't imagine why the BSA would say that only non-US scouting org experience beginning in 2019 would count for girls, while simultaneously still allowing the exact same experience from boys to count towards rank. If they're going to present this as an opportunity for girls to have the same scouting experience in the BSA that boys can have, it would be extremely odd to then put these kinds of added limitations on the girls program. If anyone has any con
  23. EmberMike
    That's not accurate. Credit can be given for requirements fulfilled in other scouting organizations. It doesn't have to be "while a USA registered scout." If they do it for boys, why not do it for her? Why is she so special to not get the same consideration any boy from a non-US scouting org would get?
  24. EmberMike
    I want to believe that you're agreeing with me, but I'm suspicious. It is accurate, though. She wouldn't be the first to get credit for previous scouting experience.
  25. EmberMike
    The application for an extension states, "“If a youth foresees that, due to no fault or choice of his own, he will be unable to complete the Eagle Scout rank requirements before age 18, he may apply for a limited time extension." Personally, I only know of two extensions given, one for medical (hospitalization) and one for something military-related. From the Scouting Magazine website they list these as some considerations for extensions: Hospital stay, disabling injury, significant employment conflict, relocation, family emergency, natural disaster, severe and/or unexpected wea
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