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Graham James
Professor Rebecca Agosta
UWRT 1102
17 September 2014
The world in which we live in today is a collage of different types of people who each
have a unique identity. Our identity is shaped by many different factors such as our parents, the
schools we attend, the friends that we associate with, and our society as a whole. My name is
Graham James, and being an Eagle Scout has shaped my identity as a whole in many ways.
Statistically speaking, only six percent of all boys who enter Scouting ever reach the rank
of the Eagle Scout. This rank is revered with honor by most people because it shows
commitment to a goal which is very hard to achieve, and the installation of the values and morals
of Scouting within an individual. Achieving the rank of Eagle goes far beyond what many
people think. This rank is not a simple progression through an organization, or one that can be
handed out blindly. Being an Eagle Scout means that you have accepted the values of Scouting,
and that you will instill the values into your daily life. The rank is not just a promotion or a
badge to be worn, it is an identity that one must accept, an identity that others will see and notice,
and an identity that represents the Boy Scouts of America.
I started Scouting when I was six years old. I watched my older brother Joseph, who is
eight years older than me go through Scouting, and he thoroughly enjoyed it, and I wanted to
follow in his footsteps. I progressed through Cub Scouts and at the age of ten received the
highest award in the program called the Arrow of Light. After this point, I joined Boy Scouts. I
quickly learned that the two organizations were vastly different, and I began to enjoy the

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differences. In Cub Scouts, adults generally guide the kids through activities and are always
there, in Boy Scouts the youth run the organization, and adults are there if help is needed and
asked for. As soon as I became a Boy Scout, I realized that at the beginning of each meeting a
sort of oath was said by all of the boys. I quickly came to find out that it was called the Scout
Oath and Law (see endnotes for reference). I realized that by being a Scout, you were agreeing
to live your daily life by the Scout Oath and Law. I enjoyed Scouting at first simply because of
the trips that I was able to go on with the troop. As I grew older I began to take leadership roles
within the troop, and by the time I was fourteen, I was the Senior Patrol Leader of my troop.
This job entailed a lot of responsibility and planning, which I was not accustomed to. I
continued to advance in rank and at the age of fifteen was a Life Scout which is the rank prior to
Eagle. By this point, I had been nominated into the Order of the Arrow, which is Scoutings
honor society, and had continued to hold leadership roles throughout the troop. Through the
course of the next three years, I completed the rest of the requirements for my Eagle, and
received the honor in December of 2012.
By becoming an Eagle Scout, I had accepted the values taught to me in Scouts. I had
accepted that I was to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the Scout Law, to help others
at all times, and to remain true to my morals. These values, have helped shape my identity by
giving me a foundation to make decisions throughout my life. The organization has taught me
much more than the popular misconception of how to pitch a tent or build a fire, but more than
that it has taught me the importance of being a leader and of making ethical decisions throughout
my life.
Being an Eagle Scout has shaped my life thus far by giving me a sense of direction and
ability to make ethical decisions. I believe that by being an Eagle Scout, you are looked at by

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society as someone that should be a leader, someone that should display integrity in situations
that are difficult to do so, and someone who is willing to go the extra mile. Being an Eagle Scout
means that you have made a vow to yourself and to everyone else that you will display the
qualities of Scouting throughout your life. By achieving this rank, I look at myself differently. I
hold myself to higher expectations than what others often expect of me, which is not always an
easy task. Often times, the path that an Eagle Scout must follow in their everyday lives is harder
than other options. This does not mean it is regrettable in any way though I have yet to
encounter a situation in which maintaining the values of an Eagle Scout results in negative
repercussions. In fact I have noticed that by holding true to the vow that I have taken upon
myself, most things are easier, and people generally trust you to do the right thing, which is a
good feeling.
Not everyone knows that being an Eagle Scout is part of my identity, in fact only a small
group of people know this. I do not believe that it is something to boast about, but rather an
achievement that should be received humbly and acted upon in a humble manner. I believe that
the actions that I live through will allow people to see this part of my identity. By maintaining
the moral and ethical values instilled in me, I do not have to tell people that I am an Eagle Scout,
and people do not have to know this about me. Instead I believe that I represent this identity best
through living it. When I do tell people that I am an Eagle Scout, it is generally after I have
known them for a long time, at which point I believe that most people make a connection
between my personality and the achievement. I think that you are a Scout with your uniform on
or off, and that you will accept the values that haven been taught to you if you believe in them. I
believe that if someone has achieved the rank of Eagle, but lives a morally defunct life, then they
are not a true Eagle Scout. The process is not one of picking and choosing the days that are

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convenient to live the identity, but a commitment to always live it. I do not think that people
should have to question whether or not you are an Eagle Scout, or a Scout in general, but should
be able to recognize that you are different from the average by maintaining a high moral code for
yourself even when it is not the easiest option.
Making a vow to commit yourself to living a life that honors the Scout Oath and Law is
in my opinion what defines every Eagle Scout. This commitment is what defines me as an Eagle
Scout, and has helped shape this identity in my life. Not everyone knows that I am an Eagle
Scout, but they recognize a strong set of values that have been instilled in me through Scouting.
I believe that what makes the identity so important to me is the fact that it can be played humbly,
without the everyday observer knowing what creates this particular identity for me.

Endnotes
Scout Oath: On my honor I will do my best to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law,
to help other people at all times, and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and
morally straight.
Scout Law: A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful,
thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.