Eagle Life Purpose Statement

John Hoffman

I began my scouting experience in the Cub scouts, joining Pack 156 in

fourth grade. While being active in cub scouts (attending most of the
meetings and participating in outings), I played for the Junior Titan
football team. My team went undefeated and won the championship
for the league. As a cub scout, I earned the Arrow of Light award.

I crossed into Troop 156 in fifth grade with my best friends. My first
campout was to the Warren Dunes, and since then, few campouts have
stood out to me as much as that one. The experience confirmed my
love for scouting, and I worked assiduously at campouts and at
meetings to advance through the scouting ranks. I became a Den Chief
for my old pack, Pack 156, and earned the Den Chief Service Award for
my participation. I loved the job and the lessons that I was able to
teach the younger cub scouts.

As a scout in Troop 156, I went to Makajawan three times, twice for a

one week session and once for a two week session. There, also, I
worked hard to advance through the scout ranks and earn merit
badges, earning the trailblazer award for my productivity. During my
last camp session, I successfully completed the Triathalon.

I have held numerous leadership positions in other institutions while a

scout. At church, I became more and more involved in my youth group
until, now, I am on the youth leadership team which is in charge of
planning and suggesting events, setting examples for other kids in the
youth group, and being available to counsel and lead other youth. At
Attea Middle School, I received the Citizen of the Year award in seventh
grade, Scholar of the Year Award in eighth grade, and was student of
the month twice. I used the ideals of scouting, and the scouting spirit
to develop my leadership skills.

Scouting has contributed to my spiritual growth, because the ideals of

scouting and the ideals of my Christian faith are very similar. I find that
being a Christian is natural for me because of my belief in the scouting
ideals.

Scouting has influenced my personal life in the same way. Whether

holding the door open for people, helping someone carry something, or
helping kids with their homework, the scout law has always resonated
with my persona and aided the development of virtues. I find that
scouting and the leadership which it develops has made me a more
secure and confident person.
Scouting has made making personal goals easier, and the
metaphorical bar at which they are set has become higher as a result
of scouting. The skills mastered in scouting are numerous and wide-
ranging, and that gives me the confidence of knowing that I can tackle
a wide range of challenges. I am more confident that I can achieve
goals because of the success that I have had with setting goals for
achieving rank and earning merit badges.

My ambitions are to earn a PhD in astrophysics and be active in the

scientific community. I have always had an intense interest in the field
of astrophysics and particle physics and I hope that my interest in
them will allow me to have a respectable position in either one of these
fields. I hope to someday have a stable family of my own. It is too early
to say definitively where I want to attend college, but I am interested in
Cornell University, University of Chicago, and I am looking into small
liberal arts colleges with the opportunity to pursue undergraduate
research.

I hope not only to achieve personal success, but also to give back to
the global and local community. I plan on serving in the Peace Corps
after my college education, which has been an interest of mine since I
was in fifth grade. I plan, also, to give back to the community by
becoming an active volunteer through either religious or secular
institutions to serve in various ways, such as working in a soup kitchen
or volunteering to help church events. I also hope to give back to
scouting by encouraging my sons (if I have any) to be in scouts, and to
become an active parent scout.