DHS Student Hikes to Highest Boy Scouting Rank

Brendan Chamberlain-Simon

Age: 18

School: Deerfield High School

Accomplishments: Brendan Chamberlain-Simon’s involvement in the Scouting program began when he joined the Cub Scouts. Beginning as a six-year-old Tiger Cub--  “the most adorable phase of scouting,” he says-- Chamberlain-Simon has progressed all the way to the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest possible in the Boy Scouting program.

Troop 50, of which Chamberlain-Simon is a member, meets once a week to discuss rank advancements for younger Scouts as well as future events to be held. Several times a month, they hike and explore the wilderness on campouts in locations ranging from Wisconsin to the Bahamas. Eagle Scouts are also required to create a charitable project that totals around a hundred hours of man labor; for Chamberlain-Simon’s project, he built a playground for his church.

Chamberlain-Simon’s best experience as an Eagle Scout was on his troop’s trip to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. His troop set out on a nearly 100-mile 10-day backpacking trek with a crew of 10 dedicated Scouts. On the first day, he and his fellow Scouts were handed a sheet outlining the phases they would go through, such as “conflict phase” and “enlightenment phase”. He and his friends laughed off the idea of potential conflict, thinking they were too tight-knit a group to adhere to such a standard series of interactions. But by the fourth day of the trip, Chamberlain-Simon said, “there was one point where we wanted to rip each other’s heads off.”

When they worked through their difficulties, however, the troop reached the same sort of enlightened phase that they’d initially scoffed at. “Juxtaposed with our environment- we were climbing 13,000-foot mountains- it made for an indescribably amazing experience and the best two weeks of my life,” he said.

Key to Awesomeness:

The Boy Scout program is much more than learning to pitch tents and tie complicated knots; scouts are encouraged to explore their religious values, understand the tenets of American life, and ultimately work towards becoming successful adults. Young men who choose to be Boy Scouts are taught the importance of strong character, social responsibility, and physical fitness. 

In fact, because becoming an Eagle is such a difficult task, only two percent of Scouts become Eagles. But Chamberlain-Simon knows that his designation as an Eagle Scout is not the true reward of his hard work to obtain it. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned along the way it’s that the name of the rank is laughably meaningless compared to the significance of the things you actually learn,” he said.

Chamberlain-Simon credits his appreciation for nature as well as his love for charity and collaboration to the experiences he’s had as a Scout. “One of the best things about the Scouting program is that it teaches you not only how to live based on the Scout Law and Oath, but how to enjoy doing so,” he said.