Scout Earned All Merit Badges

1. GailW
   January 4th, 2009 at 1:04 pm

   Very Cool. Just imagine all of the amazing life experiences this kid has earned by accomplishing this feat. Congratulations!

2. just a guy
   January 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

   "Dad will HAVE TO love me now!"

3. Courageous Grace
   January 4th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

   Congrats to him, but like I told my husband and his little brother (both of whom are Eagles), this kid seems to have WAY too much time on his hands.

4. CheeseDuck
   January 4th, 2009 at 1:25 pm

   OCD much? No, but woah. That's crazy.

5. The Other Parker
   January 4th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

   That is pretty crazy. I was a scout and I know that a good number of the badges are overrated, pretty easy to earn. The trickiest part is getting your troop/scoutmaster to issue them! My troop only offered certain badges at certain times... others could only be earned when we camped at scout facilities with staff who could teach the classes. Many badges were simply unattainable because there was no one to instruct.

6. The Other Parker
   January 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

   (And I had a pretty big troop too, with over 70 kids. We dominated the intertroop games at all the jamborees!)

7. cb
   January 4th, 2009 at 3:02 pm

   I earned 34, but never made it past Tenderfoot!

8. CrypticJ
   January 4th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

   As a fellow Eagle Scout, good work and dedication on his part!

9. sw
   January 4th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

   i heard an interview with him on npr last night. he's not nearly as nerdy as one might expect.

10. Oliver
    January 4th, 2009 at 4:04 pm

    ugh.... what a boyscout....

11. Lenny Nero
    January 4th, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Too bad he's gonna be missing the "lost virginity" badge for quite some time.

12. quinnnchick
    January 4th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    One of the kid's in my son's troop is trying to earn all of the merit badges also. He's only was 13 when he had completed all to become an eagle (although they made him wait until he was 14 to get it). Too bad he isn't very well liked, or rather, liked at all in the troop.

13. CrypticJ
    January 4th, 2009 at 6:22 pm

    Also, with any luck, getting his Eagle will help him as much as it helped me; it was a big discussion point during my interview at the company I work at now, and served to impress the interviewers pretty well.

14. Nathan Miller
    January 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    @The Other Parker - I was thinking the same thing. I had somewhere in the 40s, I believe, by the time I was done with Scouts, but there were so many more that the requirements were so simple and I could have easily earned if only someone would "teach" them!

    But really, this kid, though obviously not otherwise occupied, accomplished quite a bit. It's very impressive!

15. pancho
    January 4th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

    Why is there an Israeli flag behind him?
    Is he Israeli?

16. Jenny
    January 4th, 2009 at 9:17 pm

    Kid never gonna get laid...lol @ Lenny Nero

17. SparkS
    January 4th, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    pancho "Why is there an Israeli flag behind him?
    Is he Israeli?"

    What does this have to do with his accomplishment?
    There's also a U.S. flag so perhaps he's American?
    Or maybe he's 1/2 American and 1/2 Israeli? Then there's a third flag that may be from El Salvador.
    Hmmmm, that muddies the issue even more. Lastly there is a fourth flag with no visible markings. Wow, perhaps we need to get to the bottom of this.

    Courageous Grace/CheeseDuck/The Other Parker/Lenny Nero/Oliver/Jenny - Don't be so jealous.

    I find it rather sad that among 16 comments only THREE were complementary without equivocation. The large majority of the others were either full of jealousy or sour grapes or other negative comments.

    gailW & CrypticJ & Nathan Miller are obviously comfortable enough in their own skin to give credit where it is due. A tip of the hat to all of you.

    Oh yeah, to this young man I say simply Bravo, Well Done. Make it 4 out of 17.

18. Ola Amigo
    January 4th, 2009 at 10:37 pm

    Congrats. There's some interesting stuff in the different merit badges... Like was said before though, watch out for OCD.

19. Ray
    January 4th, 2009 at 11:45 pm

    I am an Eagle myself, almost had 3 palms but got caught up with school work. Its a nice feat, but getting all of them are pretty hard.. Specially since the requirements are always changing.. Required First than go after the others..
    I have like 40 in total.

20. HollywoodBob
    January 4th, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    Sparks,

    If the Boy Scouts of America was the same organization it was 40 years ago when my uncles were Eagles and my Grandfather was a troop leader, I'd be right there with you cheering this kids accomplishments. It's taken a lot of hard work to collect all of those badges, and he should be commended for that. Sadly though, since being taken over by the Church of Latter Day Saints, I've lost all respect for BSA, and anyone who is associated with it in it's current form.

21. Johnny Cat
    January 5th, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Thank you, HollywoodBob. My thoughts exactly. You have a source for that, I take it?

22. DaveL
    January 5th, 2009 at 3:11 am

    A lazy check at Wikipedia uncovered a chart claiming 62% of scout charters being held by religious organizations. I was a bit concerned to read that until I remembered that we met at a church when I was a scout because they had a rec center to facilitate the troop. I don't recall any dogma being pushed on us but I'm sure that happens in a lot of places. But I was more concerned about soap box derbies than dieties at that age so I wouldn't have noticed either way.

23. XuYu
    January 5th, 2009 at 4:17 am

    See what you can accomplish when you're neither gay nor an atheist!!!

24. ted
    January 5th, 2009 at 8:30 am

    I actually agree with Sparks, although I didn't analyse it to the same extent. So the guy got them all. Good for him. He probably got his homework done, too.

    As for the virginity, would it be more of an accomplishment if he were famous for having sex with 121 teenage girls? I would think that would get him at least one badge.

25. Alice
    January 5th, 2009 at 11:12 am

    Campfire Boys and Girls FTW. They are my charity of choice, and always recieve a large donation from me.

    I had been a Girl Scout when I was little. When I discovered that I didn't believe in god, I was pushed out. You see, we had a prayer before and after the meetings. I told my troop I didn't want to pray. From that moment, my troop leader and the other girls included me less and less in activities. When it became obvious that I wasn't welcome any more, I left. I was 10 years old, very hurt and quite confused.

    I didn't learn of the Campfire group until I was an adult, too late to be a troop member. They have this wacky idea of accepting all, regardless of religion (or lack thereof) or sexuality.

    For me, that ruins the BSA and the GSA. They are good organizations for kids, but will not be great until they accept all children. I think if they're going to exclude kids, they just need to come out as the religious groups they obviously are ...

26. just a guy
    January 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    lol @ XuYu. Yeah, or at least openly!

27. cleek
    January 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    "would it be more of an accomplishment if he were famous for having sex with 121 teenage girls? I would think that would get him at least one badge."

    and 20 years in the big house.

28. Alice
    January 5th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    Cleek, not if he's a teenager himself. Given that he's a scout, he's probably still a teen.

29. Courageous Grace
    January 5th, 2009 at 4:05 pm

    SparkS, way to be an asshole. It seems you can't be congratulatory to him without dissing other people in the process.

    I'm hardly jealous. In fact, I think it's pretty awesome that he managed to earn all of the badges. Yet it makes me wonder if he has many friends, school activities, how his grades are, if he's going to college, etc. If all the other areas of his life are doing as well as his earning all of the possible merit badges, then all the more power to him and he has a great future ahead of him.

    And just for the record, I'm proud of my Eagle Scout husband, my recent Eagle Scout brother-in-law, and my future Boy Scout son (I hope. He's not yet 1). Getting his Eagle was a great accomplishment for my husband and I do believe it helped him, an introvert, to be more assertive and outgoing based on stories I've heard of him as a boy.

    Again, congrats to Mr. Goldsmith.

30. Life :(
    January 5th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

    Yeah, but does he have underwater basketweaving?

31. Scott-O
    January 5th, 2009 at 4:56 pm

    It is pretty pathetic that so many people find it hard to recognize someone's hard work and congratulate them on a task done to completion. I am curious to know how many of you "won't get laid", "OCD!!" morons have taken a task to completion or have dedicated yourselves so completely to something that improves the world in some way.
    I recommend you dismount your high horses and arrogant attitudes until you do something even close to what this young man has accomplished.
    I no longer wonder why this country is heading down the toilet when we have hateful jack asses who cannot bare to congratulate someone without sniping at them.
    What a bunch of useless tools.

32. Noelegy
    January 5th, 2009 at 5:13 pm

    Wow, that's pretty darned cool, methinks. This is probably a good kid.

33. SparkS
    January 6th, 2009 at 1:07 am

    HollywoodBob - I wasn't aware that the BSA had been taken over by the LDS.

    Courageous Grace "SparkS, way to be an asshole. It seems you can’t be congratulatory to him without dissing other people in the process."

    Truth getting a bit disturbing Grace? I stand by what I wrote. You talk like that around your parents? Your son has a wonderful role model.

34. violet
    January 6th, 2009 at 5:49 pm

    Uh oh, the SparkS is loose again. Everyone just salute the flag and back away from the comments.

35. Rocky Rook
    January 7th, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    I'm an Eagle Scout. It was tough for me to earn it. I really earned it for my parents who were pretty adament about me completing the requirements.

    I find it AMAZING that this kid earned all the merit badges. Some kids choose to earn straight A's or ace the SAT or to earn as much money for college or to sleep with as many people possible, but this kid chose to earn all the merit badges. I think he's on his way to a great life.

36. Ali S.
    January 7th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    Used to be a Boy Scout but I never really did get into the whole achieving medals thing. I just liked going out camping and doing things outdoors with my Scout Troops.

37. Old Scout
    January 8th, 2009 at 4:16 am

    Wow! Congratulations to him! I wonder if when he's a little older and starts persuing the women instead of the merit badges if he'll have to go after every one of them too? Best of luck to him...

38. J
    January 9th, 2009 at 6:51 am

    Being an Eagle myself, I am very proud to hear about this story. This sort of feat is pretty hard considering you only need 21 for eagle and most kids do what they have to to finish, typically because of school.

    Kudos to him, it will help him immensely later in life.

39. starbreiz
    January 9th, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Being a Girl Scout Gold Award recipient (the Eagle Scout equiv), kudos to this guy. Though the Girl Scout version isn't generally given the same respect. I had an interviewer at a potential employer laugh at me when I brought it up. But good for this guy!

40. Eagle74
    January 12th, 2009 at 4:48 pm

    Hey SparkS get your information correct!!! Although the LDS sponsors more troops, because each troop is substantially smaller in size than non-LDS troops, the Methodist Church actually has the highest perchentage of involvement in Boy Scouts. But I guess the truth probably wouldn't fit into your agenda.

    My son is 15 and is 2/3 the way toward his goal of earning all of the badges and I hope he does. What a concept... a teen that has goals and works hard to achieve them. No, he's not some nerdy kid. He's also starting wide receiver for his league champion high school varsity football team.

41. Kathy S.
    January 25th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    I too am shocked by all the negative comments about this young man's accomplishment. The goal of the Scouting program is to teach boys leadership and character development, in addition to the life skills learned by the Merit Badge program. Money cannot buy better leadership training!
    This young man, his family and his Scout leaders should be very proud, regardless of what is written here by some very immature people.

42. Rob
    March 10th, 2009 at 9:05 am

    I have been involved in the scouting program for 17 years and I am an Eagle also. First off if a scout is ready to be Eagle at 13 then the troop has not done it job. No boy 13 is ready to be an Eagle Scout. It is not just collecting merit badges. YOu need to have the ability to lead your project. I have viewed 1000's of projects. This is not what scouting is about. Earning 121 badges is not possible if it is done correctly. Now a days everyone wants to hand the badges out. You must earn a badge once every 3 weeks from 11-18 in order to accomplish this. Today badges are handed out like water and this Scouting College is a joke. Its all about one upsmanship. Remember it's not the destination its the journey.

43. stud2011
    March 22nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm

    Rob,

    I would definitely have to agree with you. With the internet making it so much more convenient to find answers, it is so much easier to earn merit badges. They say that only 2% of all scouts make eagle, but that number is calculated if you look at all eagles since the start of the program; if you just looked at the eagles for one recent year, the number would be more like 10%. I have gone to local merit badge fairs where eagle required merit badges are basically given to you just for being in attendance in the class.

    I really do respect this accomplishment; I earned 102 myself, so I understand all of the work that has gone into earning the merit badges. I do think, though, that the publicity for this one scout earning all the merit badges has been blown way out of proportion, with several articles written about him and even interview spots on national television stations. I know two people in 8 years from the Longhorn Council that earned all of the merit badges, but the most they got was a handshake from the District Executive.

    Alot of people dont realize that there is a story line behind this scout; he earned his last 60 merit badges in the last 3 months of his scout career because he promised his dying grandma that he would earn them. It makes for a good story, but someone that "earned one merit badge every three weeks until they are 18" will most likely not make headlines. With an average of one merit badge being earned every 1.5 days, it shows how easy merit badges can be earned nowadays.

    One last personal observation-- having two sashes is very unnecessary; the large sashes are made to fill every merit badge.

44. Trey
    August 23rd, 2009 at 8:16 am

    Wow, thats cool. I'm trying to do that myself, but i don't think it will happen because i can't swim very well (and i don't have a dog ). Actually, I find it sad that people can't admire this person's achievements. It's also sad that people don't like Boy Scouts just because the Latter Day Saints support them largely. The only reason the LDS support them is because of their good moral values and goals to teach young men life lessons. I think it's actually a good idea. CONGRATS MR.GOLDSMITH! YOU ROCK!

45. curliq
    October 12th, 2009 at 12:57 am

    I think this ia a wonderful thing this young man has done. My 12 year old is a Boy Scout and has earned almost 25 badges in just a little over 1 year. He has worked very hard at them and I am very proud of him too! I am sure Mr Goldsmith's parents are very proud of him as well. The merit badges weren't designed to make the scouts become an expert on a subject, they merely give young men a taste of different hobbies and careers that the might never have thought to try out.

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