If there is a better organization than the Boy Scouts, I have yet to discover it. It has changed countless lives for the better. The ultimate rank attainable in scouting is that of the Eagle Scout. I never achieved it, nor do about 97 percent of boys who join the scouting ranks. For those who do achieve this honor, it is a recognition they cherish for the rest of their lives.

While writing my book Male Code: Rules Men Live and Love By, I interviewed dozens of men who, when asked what achievement they cherished most, proclaimed that it was becoming an Eagle Scout. Although this is a mark of individual achievement, it also signifies that the boy knew how to contribute to his community and to the community of scouting. The term Eagle Scout was chosen because it is symbolic of our national emblem and outstanding personal achievement.

Jim Hiett has been a college educator for 35 years at six different colleges, so he has become an expert on how to interview well and prepare an effective resume. However, Jim was surprised when one college president with whom he was interviewing told him that his resume was incomplete. In fact, the president said that the most important of Jim’s qualifications had been omitted – that he was an Eagle Scout. (He knew this about Jim before the interview.) Jim got the job, and the president later said he was hired primarily because he was an Eagle Scout. The president understood the courage, commitment, and physical endurance the rank signified.

The ceremony that marks the moment a boy becomes an Eagle Scout is very emotional for everyone involved. The boy has passed the most rigorous of mental and physical challenges and has become – an Eagle! If the boy’s mother is alive, she pins the award on her son. If the mother is not alive, the medal is attached by the father, scoutmaster, relative, or close friend. Jim remembers the night a young boy’s mother bestowed his tenderfoot badge, and how proud she was. A few years later the same boy became an Eagle, but his mother was no longer alive. When he received his Eagle badge – now without his mother present to share his accomplishment – deep emotion swept the audience and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

One among many – The Eagle Scout.

From the book: The Power Of Eagles: Nature’s way to individual accomplishment, Twyman L. Towery, Ph.D., ISBN 0-9646872-4-0