Accomplishments

Eagle Scout

I was a member of the Boy Scouts of America Troop 250 from 2014 to 2022. According to the national BSA website, Scouting helps youth develop academic skills, self-confidence, ethics, leadership skills, and citizenship skills that influence their adult lives. Scouts are encouraged to take on leadership roles and teach younger scouts important life skills. You can learn more about Scouting here: What Is Scouting?. Eventually I was appointed as a patrol leader. I coordinated with troop leadership and other patrol leaders to design and execute scouting activities, which improved troop cohesion and helped younger scouts grow, resulting in a smoother, more efficient operation of the troop. My troop was split into 4 patrols, and each patrol has about 5 members. Sometimes patrols create their own individual activities every Friday, but there are numerous activities that involve the whole troop, like camping.

There are 7 ranks, and being an Eagle Scout means you have achieved the highest rank. Becoming an Eagle Scout is extremely difficult. These are the most difficult requirements:

• Complete an Eagle Project
• Earn the previous 6 ranks. Each rank is full of challenges and becomes increasingly more difficult
• Earn 21 merit badges. Each merit badge teaches a scout a life skill, like personal fitness or cooking. Scouts need to put lots of effort into completing even a single merit badge
• Hold a position of responsibility, like being a patrol leader

Eagle Project

The Eagle Project is by far the most difficult requirement and pushes a scout past their limits. An Eagle Project is a service project that benefits any religious institution, any school, or your community. An Eagle Project must be large enough for a scout to lead others. Some examples of Eagle Projects are painting a church, planting trees, landscaping, and building homes for wildlife. This must be completed before the scout turns 18 years old. Without careful planning, a scout may run out of time to complete their service project because planning takes a very long time.

For my Eagle Project, I led a team of 25 over the course of 2 months to build a workstation and assemble shelving for a nonprofit organization named "Starting Point," increasing their efficiency in creating gift baskets and care packages for newly-arrived refugee families in the greater Sacramento area. You can learn more about Starting Point here: Starting Point.

I first discovered Starting Point at my church, Xaris. My church became a sponsor for Starting Point a few years ago. Starting Point is an organization that supports recently resettled refugee children with their special projects and community programs. Starting Point welcomes refugees who arrive in the U.S. with very few possessions with gift baskets. These baskets contain essential household items. Anyone can donate items to Starting Point, and here are some examples of what should be donated for baaskets:

• a set of dinnerware
• a set of flatware
• pots, pans, and baking sheets
• cooking utensils
• knife and cutting board
• dish soap
• sponges
• hand soap
• kitchen towels
• large trash bags
• toilet paper
• shampoo
• toothbrushes
• toothpaste

Here is what the storage area looked like before my Eagle Project:

I designed a wooden workstation that allows Starting Point to assemble gift baskets efficiently. The scout who is in charge of their Eagle Project is supposed to lead others in doing all the manual labor without doing any themselves. I created a blueprint for the workstation while my volunteers assembled it.

Here is what the self-storage looks like now. My blue workstation is in the middle while the four shelves are to the sides.

After completing my project, I became an Eagle Scout. I've learned important skills that I can apply to my future jobs:

• Leadership skills
• Communication skills
• The importance of planning
• Managing time well
• Setting reasonable goals