Paul Tarell Eagle Scout Scholarship

his is a $1,500 annual award for Eagle Scouts, judged on one personal essay about the path you already walked to earn the rank. You proved the part that is hardest to teach — the focus, the follow-through, the willingness to see a hard thing all the way to done. This award helps with the part that is easier to support: the cost of what you study next.

Leadership is action, not position.

It is one specific award for one specific thing — not a range of programs, and nothing you have to be sold on. If you earned Eagle and you are enrolled in school, you are who this is for.

How it works
The application has two parts: a short form with your details, and one personal essay. You’ve already done the hard part by earning the rank — the essay is just reflection on it. Here’s how to approach it.

The essay prompt
“How do you think the dedication, focus, and perseverance you demonstrated in earning your Eagle Scout has shaped who you are today?”

Write 600–700 words — about two typed pages.

Writing it
Don’t write about Scouting in the abstract. Write about a specific moment from your own path to Eagle. The project that stalled and how you got it moving again. The week you wanted to quit and didn’t. The role you took on before you felt ready for it. The detail is what makes the essay yours instead of one anyone could have written.

Then connect it forward. The prompt asks how those qualities shaped who you are today — so spend real words on the now. How does the discipline you built earning the rank show up in how you study, lead, or handle a setback? That bridge from then to now is the whole essay.

Write in your own voice. We’d much rather read something that sounds like you than something polished into anonymity.

One thing we take seriously: your essay must be your own, written by you. Work generated by AI or copied from somewhere else will be disqualified. The point of this award is to hear your story in your words — there’s no shortcut to that, and you don’t need one.

Before you submit
Reread the prompt and check that you answered the “who you are today” half, not just the “what I did” half. Check the length. Proofread once. Upload your essay as a PDF, along with your enrollment verification, and submit before the deadline — late applications can’t be considered.

You should get a confirmation email within a day. If you don’t, reach out and we’ll make sure it came through.

You proved your follow-through to earn Eagle. Bring that same finish-what-you-start to the application, and let your own story carry it.

— The Paul Tarell Eagle Scout Scholarship