Bryce is a Boy Scout, and a very determined one at that. He is 12 (and a half, that part is very important for this brag post). He is a very determined Boy Scout. So this is already very confusing. This post has 2 parts to it. It is most definitely all about Bryce, but I'll just get right to it. First off, Bryce had a court of honor on June 1st, and was awarded his Life rank, which he earned on April 27th. That makes him eligible to earn his Eagle Scout rank as early as October 27, 2011. (Eligible, is the key word.) He could quite possible pull it off! Now the 12 and 1/2 part that I told you was so important... Bryce won't turn 13 until December. So, if he does pull off earning his Eagle at his eligibility date, he will EARN (I am a firm believer the term earn, versus given... another rant for another day) his Eagle Scout Rank before he turns 13. So early you ask??? (You are not the first...) We'll get to that in a bit.
Second. Bryce also EARNED 16 more merit badges. This brings his total up to 39 now. (A Boy Scout only needs 21 to be eligible for Eagle.) Bryce has put in A LOT of hard work for each of these merit badges. He has earned 3 with his troop and all the rest on his own. He has not been to scout camp yet. Bryce has set the goal for himself to earn all of the merit badges that are currently offered. Right now he can earn 130, so we'll see where he is at when he turns 18. So that kind of brings me back why would he want to get his Eagle so young? If he can get his Eagle when he is still 12, AND he stays active in his troop until he is 18 (among other things), then he would be eligible to earn 20 Eagle Palms. There is a time requirement for each Eagle Palm, thus the time crunch. At this point he seems committed, we just have to keep him on the right path, so we'll see how long it lasts!
This is a list of the Merit Badges that Bryce has earned so far (in the order that he has earned them):
First Aid*
Swimming*
Tracking (2010 only)
Pathfinding (2010 only)
Cycling*
Music
Communications*
Signaling (2010 only)
Carpentry (2010 only
Lifesaving*
Law
Family Life*
Personal Management*
Fingerprinting
Electricity
Citizenship in the Nation*
Reading
Leatherwork
Basketry
Snow Sports
Aviation
Insect Study
Space Exploration
Scholarship
Sports
Computers
Genealogy
Citizenship in the Community*
Citizenship in the World*
Astronomy
Salesmanship
Golf
Soil and Water Conservation
Environmental Science*
Oceanography
Automotive Maintenance
Art
Coin Collecting
Public Health
With all of that out of the way, he has a few more merit badges that are in the completion stages and then he'll be taking a break for a while. Bryce has 3 more required MB's that he has to do before he can qualify for Eagle (one almost finished, one that he'll be doing in July, and one that he won't finish up until after Scout Camp). Right now he is focusing on his Eagle Project which he is in the final stages of approval on. He is a great kid with lots of ambition. Way to go Bryce!
Here is a picture from the Court of Honor:
