Eagle Project Experiences

  Becoming an Eagle Scout is a rare thing. Only 10% of all scouts are able to get this award. As such, it is required for a scout to do a project that will benefit his/her community. There are usually a wide variety of projects that scouts choose from. I, for instance, chose to build a shelving unit for my old middle school. Eagle projects tend to teach you more each and every time you volunteer at one. A recent Eagle Project of my friend’s, for instance, gave me an opportunity to work with kids with disabilities. 

  The project dealt with volunteers going to the hospital to teach kids with disabilities “scout skills.” These things involved knots, tie-dye, etc. Honestly, I didn’t know half of the things that we were doing with the kids (Tie-dye? I haven’t done that in…ever). However, I just walked in to try to help and interact with the kids. 

  The day started off with a few guidelines - what to say to the kids, how to refer to the kids with disabilities, what the instructions are for the different activities - and a quick look at the list of kids that were coming in for the camp. As soon as the kids came out, we started to file into our stations. I was meant to go to the bedside patients and interact with them. I did the best that I could, given that some were not responsive to me. Still, the opportunity to help these kids and at least be with them was special. These kids spend the majority of their days in the care of nurses and doctors, but according to the person who was in charge of the project said that it would be refreshing for the kids to see someone new. The kids were definitely excited (according to the nurse, so take that as you will) and helped me understand the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone. 
Honestly, without this experience, I wouldn’t have pushed myself to continue to talk to kids that were not going to respond to me, or I wouldn’t try to interact with kids that thought of me as a complete stranger. With this experience, I went through a learning curve that would cause me to completely change my perception of my social skills. Through experiences that were as off-putting as this one was, I learned how to be a better person and a better people’s person.