Meet Micah, the Eagle Scout with 138 Merit Badges, and Then Some
Ever have something in your life that just jump starts EVERYTHING? Well, Scouting is what did it for Micah, a rising sophomore at Kennesaw State University. He has some amazing goals for himself, including joining the ROTC and attending Georgia Tech to finish off a degree in Mechanical Engineering, serving his country by joining either the Airforce or Army, and earning his Hornaday Silver Award… just to name a few.
From reading that, it may seem like Micah has had a set career path and goals since he was born, possibly planned out for him by his parents even before then, but that wasn’t the case at all. He said that he was actually a lazy kid by nature. He wasn’t really into the recreational league sports that he had tried, so putting him in Scouting was an effort by his parents to try and give him something to get excited about. Thus, at 11 years old, Micah’s Scouting journey began.
Like lots of kids, it took a little bit of time for Micah to build momentum. His first year, he earned two merit badges and was actually thinking about quitting until he bought the Railroading merit badge pamphlet. That was his catalyst. He completed it at home and it was with this merit badge that he realized how FUN this could be! It ignited his passion for Scouting and learning. He decided from there on out that he would focus on merit badge topics he was already really interested in. After that, he fell in love with learning new things and expanded out. Scouting gave him a way to learn in a hands-on environment, along with giving him the perfect sample of a variety of topics. Essentially, he discovered the entire plan behind the Scouts BSA program!
Once he discovered this new passion and drive, he worked to complete one merit badge a week. He dove into researching which merit badges would match up with school field trips, and then later on, started to plan the excursions he needed to go on to complete the rest of the merit badges.
Now, Micah is 19 and is still going strong in Scouting. He is working on completing the paperwork and final requirements needed to earn his fourth Hornaday Silver Award, while staying active with his Venturing Crew.
A bit more:
Why Mechanical Engineering and the military?
I am actually still not 100% sure that I really want to do that, but I know that I am good at and love math and science. I know I want to serve my country, and the Airforce and Army both have the most cutting-edge aerospace programs. After the military, this is something I can take into civilian life as well.
What do you love about Scouting?
I loved earning merit badges – the tangible representation of what I was learning. I also love that Scouting is an open forum for discussion and debate. Everyone can talk about their opinions and find middle ground, something that is rare in school nowadays.
What does it take to accomplish as much as you have? (In addition to completing all of the merit badges, he has also earned the National Medal for Outdoor Achievement, both Supernova awards, Hornaday Badge – currently completing his final project to apply for the Hornaday Silver award as a Venture Scout, Eagle with 23 palms, Summit – highest rank in Venturing, Ranger – Venturing, and Vigil – Order of the Arrow).
It takes a true passion for learning and for Scouting. I decided that I wanted to prove to myself that I could work hard and accomplish things. The Scouting America started as the catalyst, where I found that I liked learning how to do things and experience different opportunities that I wouldn’t otherwise experience.
How did your time in the Scouting America have an impact on where you are now?
It gave me a lot of networking opportunities – so many different groups are represented in the Scouting America. It gave me direction and career paths. The Scouting America offers so many different avenues to jobs. It led me to science, technology, and math, along with opening up academic opportunities that weren’t opened up by school. (like the time I entered my Elementary Particle Physics presentation into the National Order of the Arrow Conference’s science competition and scored 0’s across the board because I didn’t format it properly, but it was the most amazing learning experience that I never would have gotten anywhere else!).
What was an interesting/difficult merit badge for you to earn?
While Rifle and Nuclear Science were my favorite badges, Bugling was definitely the hardest. I am not a musical person, so I left it until the end because I wasn’t sure how I was going to earn it. I am almost tone deaf, so I decided to number the notes 1-5 and within four months (and playing every day for an hour or two), I was able to play the required calls and earn the badge!
What is a random fact about your Scouting career?
I left the 10 hardest merit badges for my last year, including Backpacking, Cycling, Hiking, Bugling, Scuba Diving, Skating. That was an active summer!
What advice/words of wisdom you would give to kids starting on their Scouting journey?
- Maintain your momentum! Start with merit badges you are interested in, or already doing (like the Sports merit badge if you are already playing sports, Scholarship if you are already good in school) and then expand out from there.
- Getting to 1st class is the hardest part of getting to the Eagle Scout rank. In the jump from Life to Eagle Scout, the only thing you have to contend with is the intimidation factor of beginning the Eagle Scout project. And after conducting a few of these huge projects, I found that the hardest part is getting started.
- Once you earn Eagle Scout with a palm or two, get involved with Order of the Arrow or Venturing – a way to stay involved with the Scouting America until you age out at 21.
What were your big projects?
I have conducted four massive conservation projects for the Hornaday Silver Medal. For my first project, which double-counted as my Eagle Scout project, we installed five fishing line recycling stations at High Falls State Park. Virtually impossible to retrieve once dropped, littered fishing line kills fish, birds, and amphibians; clogs boat motors; and takes 600 years to decompose. My project provided cannisters for the proper disposal of fishing line so that it can even be recycled. The second project I did was based around soil erosion prevention at Camp Thunder. We rebuilt trails and put steps in at the shooting range to prevent further erosion from foot/vehicle traffic and rainwater. Erosion not only removes the topsoil necessary for plants to grow, it also deposits the soil in unintended areas - clogging streams and harming animal habitats.
For my third project, I built and distributed 100 wild bee habitats, effectively creating homes for about a quarter of a million solitary bees (docile, non-colony relatives of honey bees). Since plant pollinator populations are plummeting world-wide, providing habitats for the often-forgotten solitary bees ensures that we will have food for the future (75% of American crops rely on pollinators to reproduce). For my Summit (highest rank in Venturing) and last Hornaday project, we removed the invasive Autumn Olive plant species from High Falls State Park. Autumn Olive is a bush that ends up taking over whole ecosystems, choking out other plants and destroying plant-dwelling animals’ habitats.
What are your goals for this coming year?
Going into my sophomore year at KSU, I want to dedicate more concentrated time to schoolwork and really hit the ground running with that, instead of putting it off until the last minute. I also want to finish my final project to apply for the Hornaday Silver award. Thirdly, I want to continue giving back to the youth in Troop 2 as an Assistant Scoutmaster under the best Scoutmaster in the nation, Mr. Brad Glass!
In conclusion…
After getting the opportunity to talk with Micah, it gave me a reconfirmed sense of “anything is possible”, ESPECIALLY through Scouting. Now is the time to commit to some big goals and get to work! As always, we would love to see what you are up to! Share your photos of Scout Shop shopping sprees, how you use our gear, and how you are crushing your goals on social media! Use #ScoutShopBSA to loop us into the happenings.
