How to Write an Eagle Scout Personal Statement
An important part of becoming an Eagle Scout is writing a personal statement of your goals, ambitions and leadership skills. Your statement has to be included with your application to the Eagle Scout board of review. This should be an enjoyable and inspiring activity as you think about your life path so far and what you most want to do with your life. You may be surprised one day to see how inspiring this statement can be, so make sure you save a copy for yourself.
Life Purpose and Ambitions
Begin your personal statement by describing what your ambitions are for the future and what you believe your purpose in life is. If you already know what you want your life to be about, this may be easy. For others, it may seem like a difficult task. Get advice from friends, family and teachers but when it comes time to write it down, it should be your ideas. Find a quiet place and give it some serious thought. Try writing a rough copy just for yourself, jotting down what comes to mind, and exploring what you want and don't want your life to be about. Use the ideas you discover in the rough copy to create a good copy for submission.
Leadership Positions
After describing your life purpose and ambitions, list the positions you have had that demonstrate leadership skills. These may be positions you've had at school, church, summer camp or anywhere else. For example, if your teacher asked you to help a younger child with his reading, this could be something to include. If it's hard to remember, think about any time you did more than what was expected of you, when you took additional responsibilities or when you were able to help someone in need.
Include Awards and Other Honors
In addition to leadership positions, include any honors or awards you received. This doesn't have to be a separate section; add them when you describe your leadership positions. Like everything else in your personal statement, these should be the things that matter to you most. If you won first prize at the science fair, this may be something you want to include. If you spent an afternoon getting a lost dog to its rightful owner, you probably didn't get a trophy -- but perhaps the smile of gratitude was an honor to you just the same.
Things to Consider
The Boy Scouts of America doesn't say how long a personal statement should be or how it should be written. It's important the statement is in your own words and it reflects an honest effort. If you don't think something is important, you don't have to include it. Spelling and grammar are important, so approach a personal statement as you would a school paper. Use spellcheck if you are writing it on a computer. If you want to write it by hand, make sure it's neat and legible. Read it over a couple of times to make sure it's your best work.
References
Writer Bio
A published author and professional speaker, David Weedmark has advised businesses and governments on technology, media and marketing for more than 20 years. He has taught computer science at Algonquin College, has started three successful businesses, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines throughout Canada and the United States.
