COVID provided this ultra-busy Bellingham teen an opportunity to accomplish a rare feat
Ronan Maher says he does have “some free time,” but even that’s usually spoken for with activities, such as soccer or rowing.
The 14-year-old Bellingham resident decided to earn his Eagle Scout award as early as possible, “because I know I’m going to be quite busy later on when I get to high school, so I figured I might as well get it when I could.”
He accomplished the feat approximately two months after his 12th birthday.
“The Boy Scouts don’t keep records of who was the youngest to earn Eagle Scout,” Maher told The Bellingham Herald, “but from the research I’ve done, the youngest was just two or three months younger than me.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in the spring of 2020, the super-busy Maher found himself with some spare time.
With his Eagle Scout already in hand, Maher said he decided to utilize his time to tackle a new goal — or more specifically, 137 of them.
“I just figured if I’m already one of the youngest Eagle Scouts out there, I might as well go for the Hail Mary and go crazy and try to get all the merit badges,” Maher said. “Since COVID, I set my sights on it and I had a ton of time.”
Maher said he accomplished the feat by earning his Shotgun Shooting badge in September — approximately six months before his 14th birthday.
“I found there are only two or three people who earn every merit badge every year,” Maher said. “In total, there are less than 500 people who have ever earned Eagle Scout and all the merit badges, and I’m pretty sure I am one of the youngest.”
But it wasn’t just about getting there fastest, it was about learning, growing and experiencing new things. Among the merit badges Maher said stood out for him:
▪ Favorite: Scuba Diving — “It made me go out of my comfort zone and really challenged me. You had to go underwater and do crazy stuff that felt uncomfortable. It’s great to have that knowledge about what I can do and a little about how to scuba dive.”
▪ Hardest: Shotgun Shooting or Hiking — “The Shotgun Shooting was difficult because of the logistics. With COVID it was hard to set up. With the hiking one, I had to hike 100 miles and one had to be a 20-mile hike in less than 24 hours. It was pretty hard.”
▪ Easiest: Fingerprinting — “It only took me about a half-hour with the counselor. I had to learn about the history behind fingerprinting and then fingerprint myself.”
▪ Most useful: Cooking — “I just love it.”
So now that all the merit badges are accomplished and he has all this “free time,” what’s next for Maher?
Well, as a home-schooled student, Maher said academics will be a top priority, as he has designs on making it to the University of Washington, Harvard or Stanford.
He said he also plans to devote a lot of time to an internship at UW, where he’s working on a team to help incorporate drones into search and rescue operations to more efficiently find people — a service he said he eventually hopes to utilize as part of Whatcom County’s Summit to Sound Search and Rescue team.
Then there are the competitions involving investing money in the stock market he says are “a hobby.”
And if he still has extra time, “I can always work at my small side hustles doing landscaping or the businesses I’m starting to do car detailing and pet sitting,” Maher said.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
