Life Purpose Statement

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 wideranging, 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.