Jaxson Deneau (10) has been in Boy Scouts since he was about six years old. Deneau currently holds a star rank and has only one step left to reach life rank.
Deneau shares his favorite moments from Boy Scouts; so far, it has given him great opportunities to explore and experience new things.
“My favorite part about being in Boy Scouts is hanging out with my friends, going on trips, and doing cool things,” Deneau said, “Like when we went camping, whitewater rafting, cave exploring, and slept on a boat for six days on the ocean. My favorite memory is feeding the sharks in the Keys”.
Deneau has earned about 20 badges since being in Boy Scouts, and not all of them were easy to earn. Earning new badges takes a lot of time and dedication. However, once the badge is earned, it makes all of the work worth it.
“The most challenging badge I have earned would have to be Citizenship in the nation because I had to pay attention to big national issues and analyze them,” Deneau said.
Being in Boy Scouts has allowed Deneau to learn many skills that he uses in his everyday life, along with gaining many certifications to help prepare him for any scenario. Deneau has also had to put his survival skills to the test by spending the night with no shelter. He has also put his skills to the test when his troop helped search for a missing person.
“Things I use in my everyday life that I learned from Boy Scouts would be cooking and survival skills. We learned how to survive if we ever get stuck somewhere, and how to build our own shelter with sticks. We also went to help search for a missing girl in Gary. I am CPR certified, starting fires certified, firearm certified, and knife handling certified.”
Deneau has plans to pursue his dream of welding in the military. His experience in Boy Scouts will greatly impact his future career and help him become successful by utilizing the skills that he learned throughout the years.
“In my future, I want to do welding in the military, and Boy Scouts would help me with that because when I become an Eagle Scout and get through boot camp, I would automatically rank higher in the military and make more money than the rest of the people who go through without any prior training,” Deneau said, “The survival skills I’ve learned would help me because I know how to protect myself and survive with little to no materials.”
Deneau appreciates his troop and troop leaders because Boy Scouts have brought him friends for life. But his biggest supporter will always be his mom because she always makes sure he’s on track and stays involved in this experience with him.
“My troop is special because of my friends and troop leaders. They make sure I get my stuff done and actually help me. My mom has helped me get to where I am and has made this journey easier because she pays for all the stuff, and she really pushes me to get stuff done,” Deneau said.
Overall, Deneau has learned so much from Boy Scouts, from the trips, the badges and certifications he earned, to the friends he has made along the way. Deneau finds all of the tasks he has to do very time-consuming but very purposeful, and it will be worth all the hard work in the end once he ranks up to an Eagle Scout and can use this in his future career path.
