By NATALIA JONES
The word impossible is something Parker Luke, 18, of Valley View does not like to hear.
Both his uncle and father were Eagle Scouts, so as a child it was only natural for Luke to think about becoming a scout. However as his interest in scouting peaked, Luke was discouraged to discover that there weren’t any troops located near his home.
Fortunately with the help of a few deacons and elders of his church, Eagle Scout Troop No. 7777 or Quad 7 of Valley View was formed.
But with a brand new troop, Luke said merit badges were not a top priority on his or the other members’ minds. Instead, the scouts were more focused on forming a cohesive unit.
It would be another eight and a half months later, until Luke would truly begin to focus on obtaining all 21 required merit badges for Eagle Scouts.
While at Worth Ranch, a Boy’s Scout camp near Palo Pinto, Luke said he had a revelation.
Not only was Luke going to earn all 21 merit badges needed to become an Eagle Scout, but he had decided to earn all 121 possible merit badges.
“I voiced my aspirations to one of the other scouts at Worth Ranch and he told me it was impossible to do that,” said Luke. “That didn’t float my boat very well or was my cup of tea, because nothing is impossible to me.
From that day on, I was going to get all of the merit badges, no matter what. It turned into a personal competition between myself and me.”
Once his family got involved with his mission, Luke said he was visiting several universities such as Baylor, the University of Texas in Austin and the University of North Texas in Denton, trying to find merit badge counselors for all the different merit badges. Some of those included badges for surfing, landscape architect, finger printing, medicine and more.
Now 18, Luke has aged out of his Eagle Scouts bracket and has officially earned all 121 merit badges.
Of the 121, Luke has ranked the top nine merit badges in which he said has influenced him the most.
They are as follows: (1) Lifesaving, (2) Personal Management, (3) Medicine, (4) Model Design and Building, (5) Public Speaking, (6) American Business (7) Entrepreneurishp, (8) Back-packing and (9) Insect Study.
Out of the nine, Luke said Entrepreneurship was the most challenging merit badge to earn, not only because of its requirements but also because of the counselor he chose to work with.
“He is an entrepreneur himself and before I was done, I had learned so much that I could literally have a fully functioning company with multi-millions involved,” said Luke.
The years 2007-2008 are what Luke describes as the two most challenging years of his life. During that time, he participated in about six extracurricular activities, was an intern for Congressmen Michael Burgess, completed merit badges and had finally accomplished Eagle Scout.
Although he has now completed his mission, Luke said he is still actively involved with scouts and now teaches public speaking to younger scouts as a merit badge counselor.
“I really enjoy working with younger scouts,” said Luke. “I think they’re learning a lot and I’m probably learning a lot more than they are, just working with them.”
Recently, Luke demonstrated his public speaking skills during a Gainesville Rotary Club meeting held at the First Baptist Church in Gainesville.
As he explained the obstacles he endured to accomplish his mission, Luke told the Rotarians that he hoped his story would serve as inspiration to completing their own goals.
“Whether it’s some goal within your career or an exercise plan you want to accomplish, just any little facet of your life that you are trying to work towards and it looks like it’s getting kind of dismal or it looks like it’s not achievable, just go for it,” he said. “Anything that’s impossible is completely possible with just a little bit of work.”
Besides his scouting career, Luke also shared with Rotarians another facet of his life: juggling.
Although he said most people do not know he is also a skilled juggler, besides an Eagle Scout, he thoroughly enjoys showing of his hobby.
However before he demonstrated his skill, Luke did warn Rotarians that it took him years of practice to get where he is today and if they would like to learn how, they too would have to practice.
This upcoming school year will mark Luke’s senior year of high school. Currently, he is applying to ivy league schools such as Princeton and Harvard.
There may only be a 9 percent acceptance rate for those schools, but Luke does not like to hear that.
“I want the challenge,” he said, with a smile.
