What do Senator Bill Bradley, the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong, President Gerald R. Ford, film maker Steve Speilberg and me all have in common? We are all Eagle Scouts. Since 1911, more than one million Boy Scouts have earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest advancement rank in Scouting. But, only about two and half percent of all Boy Scouts achieve the Eagle Scout rank. It is a long road but one well worth the journey. 
             In addition to being helpful, I think being an Eagle Scout surely indicates you have demonstrated the ability to stick with a program "to the end".  Eagle Scouts are not quitters.  They are by definition completers. There is nothing inherently difficult about achieving the rank of Eagle.  The skills that must be mastered are skills that any average boy can master. BUT, it takes time.  It takes a sustained effort over an extended period of years. Achieving the rank of Eagle Scout takes persistence.  And persistence is not a trait found in average teenaged boys or many adults for that matter.
             There are no short cuts on the path to Eagle.  Just as there are no short cuts in  life.  Anything and everything in life that is worth something takes time and effort.  Taking the time and making the effort to attain the rank of Eagle, to complete the program, taught me that lesson.  And I think that is a valuable lesson to learn early in life. So, trying to be helpful and learning to finish what I start are two important parts of what being an Eagle Scout means to me.
             Being an Eagle Scout has been very beneficial to me. On employment applications from high school through my present job at Sentry, I have always included the fact that I am an Eagle Scout. As a kid, adults who did the hiring seemed to like the fact that their prospective employee was an Eagle Scout – I think they believed, correctly, that an Eagle Scout was a completer and was someone who would be helpful – tw...