Calling all Eagle Scouts!!

[Mixing Mike]

My Eagle board is on friday night.  I'm curious how many of you guys have made it all the way.  I'm nearly 100% sure I'll pass, as long as I don't say I'm gay, or don't believe in God.  Neither of which are true

[Apollyon]

I'm an Eagle Scout.

Hyperion is an Eagle Scout.

That's all I know off the top of my head.

[Addolorisi]

It's easy monies, depending on who's on your board.  

[Petey4335]

It should be easy. I have never heard of anyone that actually failed their Eagle Board.

What did you do for your service project btw?

I cleaned up our local dump and helped people put recycleables in the right place.  Then again, this was over 10 years ago before mandatory recycling and when paper drives still brought the troop money.

[Hyperion]

As they say, "be prepared" .

If you go into it with the feeling that the board WANTS to pass you (I can't think of a reason why any Eagle board would want to fail its taker) it should help you be more relaxed. If you go in with the attitude that they'll be looking for ways to trip you up and flunk you, it'll be harder. That's how I started off for the first couple questions but once I came to the realization that they really wanted to pass me, it became easier.

As far as preparation for it, my advice would be to just know your fundamentals (camping, first aid, knots, safety, etc). and be able to talk about your service project. Don't try to memorize every little thing, I attempted to do that and it was a waste. Most of the questions will probably be broader in scope and require you to do some thinking on your feet. Eagle boards generally last less than an hour and so there aren't that many nitty-gritty questions they can ask you anyway. Spending some time before the board to reflect on what you've gotten out of Scouting might not be a bad idea either since they'll almost certainly ask you questions like that. Also, as you know leadership is a big part of the step towards becoming an Eagle Scout so I'd go into the board with an idea of what a leader is/should be (to you) and how you've demonstrated leadership in your Scouting career.

That was my impression of the Eagle board when I took it a little over 7 years ago, so hopefully this is still relevant. Good luck Mike .

[jpmeyer]

I only got to Life, but the closest that I know of of someone not making it through their Eagle board of review is one of my friend's older brother who looked shakey when it came for him to talk about his project.

[Mixing Mike]

What did you do for your service project btw?

I actually did a simillar clean-up.  I helped out with some pre-landscaping work for a new location for the EBC House.  The following weekend we clean out the basement.  I'll tell ya, that was some MUSTY basement.....

Thanks for the tips Andy.

JP Meyer was a Boy Scout?  Well, it does explain a few things....

[Nyarlathotep]

Obnoxious WWII-related comment deleted. This sort of stuff is not funny. Your sig was deleted, too. Do not attempt to put any references to your 'team name' in it again. -Bram

[Necrologia]

I'm pretty sure I was life when I turned 18. Definately not eagle though. I wasn't in scouts for the badges, and whatnot, I just liked camping. I suppose it also helped that we'd all bring a few magic decks along and play whenever we had some spare time.

Outside of that though, I'd say the most fun I had in scouts was Philmont. That was some rough hiking but afterwards it was one of the greatest feelings in the world.

[Mixing Mike]

You got to go to Philmont too?  Damn, it was a blast.
I'm suprised you didn't make Eagle if you got to go to that...

[Necrologia]

Like I said, I just wasn't into the merit badges. I'm sure I could have gotten Eagle if I wanted, I just decided that if I'm gonna go hiking or camping I wanted to enjoy it. I don't want to keep a million page log of where, when, how long, etc to earn a tiny little piece of nylon.

I guess it didn't help that I'm in the middle of nowhere, and half the required badges were offered like once every other year. Having all the requirements, and not being able to find an advisor to sign the blue card = the suck.

[Addolorisi]

You got to go to Philmont too?  Damn, it was a blast.
I'm suprised you didn't make Eagle if you got to go to that...

I've been to Philmont, but I'm fairly certain it didn't have any effect on my getting Eagle.

I mean, the leaders decided we all earned like 3 merit badges (assuming we didn't already have them) from the trip, but it wasn't even discussed during my Eagle board.

[Mixing Mike]

That's it guys....



Oh please, I couldn't resist.  But seriously, I got it.  SOOOOO GOOOOOOD,

[Hyperion]

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE!!!!!    

now go out and celebrate, this is a fantastic accomplishment and you have a lot to be proud of.  If you feel like shipping me a PM or an email to tell me how it went I'd love to hear about it.

[Komatteru]

I also am an Eagle Scout (I had my board on the last day before the new requirements took effect...which was March 30, 1999).

Congratulations!

We are proud to welcome you into the company of the few and the proud.  Wear your Eagle badge with honor and represent it well.  And feel free to relax a bit...you've earned it.

[Apollyon]

Congratulations!

Wear your Eagle Scout badge proudly, but above all, enjoy it. It's an honor that few get.

As they said in my Eagle ceremony, "You have now joined the Eagle on the summit of this mountain. Take time, and rest, for your journey has been long and difficult, and will be even longer and more difficult, as there are much higher, steeper mountains that you must also climb."

[jpmeyer]

Did anyone else's troops have like freakishly high numbers of Eagle Scouts?  Just about the entire time that I was in Boy Scouts, my troop was putting out like 3-4 Eagles a year.

[WildWillieWonderboy]

So can all you eagle scouts start a fire by shuffling magic cards? Does your survival education give you the power to make vengeur mask and TnT viable?

[Mixing Mike]

So can all you eagle scouts start a fire by shuffling magic cards? Does your survival education give you the power to make vengeur mask and TnT viable?

Do you have any idea how much work it is to get to Eagle?  I hope we both apply for the same job, and I get it over you because I'm Eagle and you're not.

Did anyone else's troops have like freakishly high numbers of Eagle Scouts?  Just about the entire time that I was in Boy Scouts, my troop was putting out like 3-4 Eagles a year.

Mine is doing that as well.  Well, if we have 3-4 boys ready to go up for it at least.

Thanks guys.  It's a good feeling

[WildWillieWonderboy]

I was just trying to relate some humorous thoughts and I certainly didn't mean to undermine anyone's accomplishments, as I'm sure that attaining Eagle status requires a great deal of work, though I'd like to cite an earlier post just for the sake of context:

That's it guys....



Oh please, I couldn't resist.  But seriously, I got it.  SOOOOO GOOOOOOD,

[Apollyon]

My troop had an Eagle Ceremony with 7 Eagles at once. We were the first after a several year drought of Eagles, though, so it's all good.

[Frappie]

yeah im an eagle. I did philmont too. went there and it rained for 14 out of the 16 days that we were hiking. the guides said they had never seen so much rain before.

My project was painting fire hydrants. It was more leadership then actual labor. but hey it did the job and it was tons of fun. Congrats mike.

There was kid in my troop that failed his eagle board and had to do another project. it was the worst feeling for all of us too. His project also was total shit tho so he had it coming.
Oh you don't have to beleive in god to get your eagle. I don't but i explained my feelings on religion and they still passed me.

Oh man thinking of burning stuff makes me think of my friends when they lit their arms on fire, brings back old memories. Also haveing a large troop (80 people) means we put thru like 4-6 eagles a year.

Once again Congrats Mike! Getting any palms? I was too lazy that and the fact that i turned 18 the day after my eagle ceremony.

[funmanguys]

by the time i post this you will probably have already gone through your board of review, but none the less, gratz, i am an eagle scout, and i don't believe in god, they didn't seem to mind much.  But my friend failed because of this beliefs, or lack there of, but they reconsidered.

[Addolorisi]

yeah im an eagle. I did philmont too. went there and it rained for 14 out of the 16 days that we were hiking. the guides said they had never seen so much rain before.

HAHAHAHA. You must have had the unfortunate chance of being there while we were. We've always had a running joke about how it always rains when we're camping; but damn if it wasn't the worst at Philmont. Our trails regularly flooded out, we went swimming in Devil's Washbasin (which was a little less dry than normal), and we spent two nights sleeping somewhere other than our designated (and underwater) campsites -- one of which was spent in the shower house.

[Frappie]

yeah we have the same joke in our troop too. My favorite bad weather story is at summer camp we had lightning strike twice within 100 feet of our site in 3 days. Crazy nuts. Oh and a tent got hit by lightning at philmont. most amazing thing. Jumped from a tree to a tent peg and burned off the plastic part that holds the tent peg to the tent. That and we saw a bear. Best Philmont story.... First day into philmont I get toothaches, tell my dad and he's like "do we go back for that?" im like nah were fine. Two days later eating the awesome jerky and my tooth comes out. Where did i leave my tooth you say, At the Mother F***** Tooth Of Time Bitches! I have teeth on the tooth of time. Oh that and one of our guys got his shirt shot with a black powder gun from point blank and made that look pretty sick.

[jshields]

i never joined the boy scouts because when i was a kid my family moved about every other year with my father in the army.  however, what benefits other than the neato title come with becoming an eagle scout?  do you get a scholarship of any sort (this is my guess)?  some other physical reward? or is it just the badge and the feeling behind it?  i am just curious because one of my friends is getting ready to do his eagle scout project

[Mixing Mike]

Well, let's say that 2% of all scouts earn the rank.  It's probably just as nice to have on any transcript as graduationg from some ivy league school, or even better maybe (since they know you already have real world experience).

[Zherbus]

I know the work that goes in to eagle scouts. It takes a lot to stick with it. My best friend did it. Once they did their project, they stopped showing up and participating which, as an eleven-year old, I thought was stupid. I don't remember what I had worked up to before I got kicked out. All I remember was camping, shooting guns... alot, and horrible mess hall food.

[Mixing Mike]

So I'm assumming you're talking about Yawgoog?  Yeah, that's some rough eats.  It's like flavored ex-lax.

/me vomits

Don't me wrong, I love Yawgoog, I worked there. But the food is NOT what I liked most about it.

[vampyre]

Congrats dude.
I'm an eagle scout too.