Gaining merit badges has been a goal for Boy Scouts for more than 100 years, but during that time there are very few that capture every merit badge possible during their time in the organization.
There is now another one added to that exclusive list, as Tre Peterson was awarded his final merit badges to give the Ponte Vedra High senior all 138.
Since the Boy Scouts of America started 113 years ago, there have only been .0042% of scouts earn every merit badge.
“If you look it up, about 540 kids have done it out of 16 million kids who have come through the program in the course of 113 years now,” Boy Scouts of America, North Florida Council CEO Kelvin Williams said. “There’s a hall of fame for sports, right? Well, when you earn Eagle Scout, you make it to the hall of fame, but then there’s Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Messi and all the legends that take it to another level. That’s where Tre is.”
Peterson was one of the youngest in the area to ever achieve the rank of Eagle Scout when he did so in seventh grade, and at that time already had earned 86 merit badges.
“Obviously, all this wasn’t originally planned, and I was just going to go in and have fun and hang out with all my friends,” Peterson said. “But as I realized this Eagle Scout thing was a real possibility, I realized how many merit badges I was accumulating. At that point, my support team just kept pushing me to continue and see how far I could go and today I made it!”
Many of those supporters were in attendance to share in the moment with him and to see the result that came from all the hard work put forth behind the scenes throughout the years.
Each badge reflects certain skills or traits that a boy scout must meet to earn them.
According to Peterson, the badges are often not something you just do to get a badge, but instead can produce value life lessons that the scouts can use moving forward to become the best adults they can be.
“There are a lot of important badges, that I’ll really continue to use, one of those is personal management, which is about financial budgeting and how to plan for your future,” Peterson said. “One of the requirements for that was just learning how to make a budget and learning how to save and manage your money wisely.”
Other badges he believes are so useful in everyday life include home repairs like plumbing and electricity, which are handy things to have knowledge about.
Even after becoming an Eagle Scout, Peterson remained very active within Troop 277 in Ponte Vedra Beach, and he has always embraced the leadership role that he has.
There were several boy scouts who received their first merit badges, and seeing each of them walk up to be awarded it with the big smiles on their face and their parents faces, reminds Peterson what it is all about even after so many years and badges.
“Showing the younger kids that this is possible is exactly what I was going for,” Peterson said. “Even though it’s a .0042%, it’s still attainable if you just push and keep your head down. And that goes for anything in life.”
Peterson plans to attend Stetson University in DeLand next fall and major in finance.
