Eagle Scout

In first grade, I joined cub scouts and graduated as Webelos to be a Boy Scouts. I had decided as a cub scout to become an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Scouting. I quickly completed my requirements crossing ranks left and right. Last year, I had finally achieved Life, the rank below Eagle. I only had to complete a few more requirements to achieve Eagle Scout. One of them was giving back to my community by performing an Eagle Project.

I spent a few weeks exploring different options on what I should do for my Eagle project. I talked to schools, temples, churches, and even parks. I leaned towards a temple, but even within the temple, there were seven projects to choose from. To challenge myself, I decided to pick the hardest out of them. My Eagle project was located at the Hindu Temple of San Antonio. It was landscaping a 1300 square feet picnic area. The area was in a horrible shape with loads of trash, broken picnic tables, tons of weeds/leaves, and dead trees. I took the responsibility of bringing the area back to life for people to come and use it.

My project’s many stages started with getting it approved by my troop, council, and district. This process took over six months of going back and forth and attending various Zoom meetings. After all the approval, I had to raise funds and gather volunteers to assist me in my project. Afterward, I have to go out and buy all the materials needed for my project. Then, I can finally begin the task of remodeling the picnic area. My project consisted of many stages in the actual project part as well starting with cleaning the area, then pouring soil and planting plants, then placing stone pavers along the perimeter, then placing weed protector, then pouring and leveling mulch, then painting and putting new picnic tables where the old ones were, then pressure washing any cement, and then finally, cleaning up the place again.

My project took place on September 23rd and 24th. Due to COVID-19 policies, the number of volunteers at a time was limited to eight, and everyone had to wear masks and gloves. I had a time slot sign up where volunteers came and put their name to ensure the limit could be achieved. Additionally, I provided all volunteers with materials, masks, gloves, and food to convince them to volunteer. My project took a total of 10 hours over the two days. Now that I am done with the project, I have brought a new light to the area, with more and more people visiting the area every day.