Personal Narrative: My Eagle Scout Project

I remember seeing my pinewood derby car going down the track; it was silver, blue letters on it that said sonic and black wheels that sounded like a hot wheels car going down a track. I was only 6 years old when that happened. Now I stand in front of the board representing Boy Scouts of America, ¨Congratulations, you are officially an Eagle Scout.¨ It hits me all the sudden like a wave hitting a sea wall, an 11 year journey just ended and it’s time to see the outcome.

For as long as I can remember, I feel as though I have been raised in a military environment. At a very young age my parents taught me to value discipline, manners, and to show and treat people with respect. In addition to these ‘staples’ of my upbringing, excelling in academics and on the athletic fields was where I further grew as a leader and learned to work with others to further distinguish myself from my peers. I knew based on my priorities and values that I was different from others by not only the way I carried myself but how I spoke to my peers and elders and the respect that I commanded. Perhaps those values were aided by both my grandfather’s serving in the military and my uncle attending West Point, a graduate of the class of

The year is 2016, it is a cold and rainy Tuesday afternoon. My father, John Carey, and I are driving to Sherman, Texas. Once I reach Sherman I will go before a board of leaders in order to achieve the ranking of Eagle Scout. I am incredibly nervous, anxious, but really I am ready to get into the meeting and show them that I am trustworthy and capable of achieving such an honor. As we pull up to the church where the meeting will be held, I realize that I could possibly not be ready. I have gone over my project, which they will be asking questions about, a million times. Not to mention I am the one who orchestrated the planning and everything about the project, so I am very familiar with it. Yet, I sit and wonder what if they ask that one question

As two-year drum major of my high school band, I traded the stability of my sleep schedule and my time to get tutoring from teachers to rehearse the band early in the morning and late into the night. I witnessed the band grow into a community-wide organization that gained followers from all corners of the local area. As a member of the Kyle Area Youth Advisory Council, I gave up my cherished evenings at the public library and my privacy to represent my peers to the City Council and give teenagers a voice in their city government. Through KAYAC, I was able to be a part of an organization that developed and implemented an ordinance to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, an act that has drawn national attention and incited discussion on the issue on outlets such as the Huffington Post. I started my own business, Giveback Merch LLC, with the purpose of designing and printing t-shirts and donating proceeds to local charities and non-profits. As Senior Patrol Leader of my Boy Scout Troop, I freely shared my knowledge and my skills so that those younger than I could advance in rank. These experiences as a leader are the fondest; I directly improved the lives of the new Scouts I mentored and reformed the youth leadership of my Troop to be more efficient and effective in planning and executing meetings and campouts. In my experiences as a leader, I have

I have demonstrated excellence In leadership by being in Future Business Leaders of America ever since I was in my freshman year. I became secretary my freshman year, vice president my sophomore year, and will have acquired the privilege of becoming President my senior year. Being in FBLA has helped me not only grow as a member, but as a leader. Throughout my growth inside the club, I have been able to encourage others to join extracurricular activities, developing my interpersonal skills. Community service has also been a major part of my High School career. Whether it’s first preparing and painting the posters for an activity we are having, to being in charge of a fundraising event, my goal has always been to try to impact the community breaking

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others” according to Bill Gates, while John Maxwell tells people that “Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.” Neither of them completely capture leadership, but at the same time, neither of them are wrong. To be a leader, one must empower and influence those they lead in order to get the results they want. Neither one mentions that a leader must be confident in themselves and show others that they are confident with the decisions they make for themselves and others. As president of the Italian National Honor Society at my school, it is my job to promote excellence in the course, as well as in the community. Since our society values giving back to the community, we put an emphasis on community service. Many of the other students in the society worried about completing their hours. I showed them that they did not need to worry about getting their service hours by completing all of my required hours for both National and Italian Honor Societies before the end of November.

When my grandfather earned his Eagle Scout Rank in 1933, he unknowingly began what would become a family tradition that has helped mold my personal perspective today. He ignited a passion for Boy Scouts within my family, which continued through my father, and was fulfilled by me when I earned the Rank of Eagle in 2014. Scouting formed me into the person I am today more so than any other activity I have ever been involved with, reinforcing my family’s emphasis on leadership, service, and work ethic.

While volunteering at Discovery Challenger I have exclusively worked with a blind man named Geno. My service to the Discovery Challenger Program has positively affected the community in that the athletes that required a helper were able to have me as one despite the limited number of volunteers who helped the athletes. Another community service I committed myself to while in high school was the club Life is Delicious. Life is Delicious is a club that between two and three times Year members of the club cook a warm meal at the high school, and then some go to the St. Vincent DePaul Homeless Shelter in Waterbury. At the end of my sophomore year I was named Co-President of the club. As a member of the club I went to all of the cooking and serving activities and was able to help the homeless of Waterbury by giving them a warm meal. The most impactful service I performed in my opinion was during my junior year when I was the organizer for the Penguin Plunge. During my junior year I thought that it would be a good idea for the basketball team to do the Penguin Plunge in order to raise money for Special Olympics Connecticut as I had done so in the previous two years. So, I approached the athletic director

By participating in this service project, I have learned that it is important to take part in activities that benefit

“What defines you as a person is not the life you were born into, but what you made of it” Shahid Kapoor said. This quote can mean many things, but to me, it means that the things that are given to you are not as important as the things you have to work for. The things I have had to work for over the last 17 years of my life have shaped the person I am today.

These men and women led the way to do what they have done, whether showing their leadership in the business world, the political landscape, or the high school classroom. I know that I have been a leader for my peers, just as they have been for me. When preparing for a presentation for the Delaware State Student Council, I found a quote by Tom Peters, a writer on business management principles, which really resonated with me. “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders”. I have, since then, done what the quote says, and have built leaders in my peers and my friends. Leadership will continue to be a focal point of my character as a member of the Caesar Rodney National Honor Society, to better not just the people around me, but myself as

Growing up in a small town, it is crucial that every individual get involved. This has pushed me to stay active in athletics, National Honor Society, student government, FFA, band, choir, play production, speech, and CYO. I take every organization I am involved with seriously and have earned some leadership positions: FFA News Reporter, Volleyball & Basketball Captain, Class President, and Student Council Member. It is an honor to hold these leadership positions and be a positive role model for the younger generation. I am able to support those younger than me and demonstrate a hard work ethic. By using my leadership and communication skills I have been able to influence teammates and fellow members to have a positive attitude

To society I seem to be very talkative on the other hand I can be intelligent. For example was in National Honor Society, had above average grades, I was very outgoing and did a lot of sports and clubs throughout the years. People would also agree that I always have been very clumsy. In general people would say I am not an overall serious person.

I have learned from fellow classmates and peers on how to become a selfless leader and follower thinking of others above myself. Throughout my four years of high school, I’ve been a part of many clubs, some that I am still involved in and some with important leadership positions. My main motive in getting involved with my community and school is to improve our school and community. In AFJROTC I have done over 250 hours of community service just within ROTC and have done over 1,000 community service throughout my community and school. I believe in selfless actions to help benefit my neighbor and peer to overall make us both superior. I am currently the Steele’s National Honors Society President, a Flight (class) commander and squadron (leader of all flights) commander, Business manager for 2017-2018 Squire magazine, Class of 2018 reporter (class officer). I have key positions in many clubs and organizations that have over this year improved and exceeded expectations. As I am a Leader, I have learned to become a respected, caring, strong-willed, straight forward, and reputative leader. I learned this mostly from the direction and teaching of Steele High School making me the leader I am

The project that we idid as a group made me feel good, happy, excited, and etc. I felt good because the project that took us some time was going to a family that one of the members was in the military. It was a pretty clever ideas that we did a project for the family because we know how they are feeling when they don’t see their family member from the military. I also felt excited because they were going to receive a project that we did and took time on the project. I never felt this way because it made me feel that I could do something for somebody else and their family.