Both dedicate years to earning rank
Austin Faucheux and Coriamtumr Wayment have both been long time fixtures with the Boy Scouts, but the two each entered their senior year at Hahnville High School with some work to do. Both were a few badges short of earning the honor of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Scouts program. Only four percent of all Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout, and both Faucheux and Wayment understood the prestigious honor nearly in their grasp.
The catch was this: if you don’t earn the honor by the age of 18, the opportunity is lost for good. But both seniors made good on their goal.
“It’s a very, very long process (to become an Eagle Scout),” Faucheux said. “I was doing real well in Boy Scouts and kept working toward (Eagle Scout), but as I closed in on my 18th birthday, I kind of slacked off. The badges I still had to earn were the harder ones.”
Wayment echoed his classmate.
“I was advancing really quickly,” he said. “But once I hit high school, there was so much work to do … once I got to my senior year, I knew I really wanted to get my Eagle. I made it the goal.”
The rank of Eagle Scout may be earned by a Boy Scout who has been a Life Scout for at least six months, has earned a minimum of 21 merit badges and has demonstrated spirit and leadership within his troop or team. A scout must also complete a service project to earn the honor.
“I’ve spent all of my life working on it,” Faucheux said. “I’ve grown really close to some of my friends through scouting. I like to go camping with them and learn the things they have to teach.”
He smiled as he reflected on some of the tougher badges, including one for citizenship in which he attended a St. Charles Parish Council meeting and wrote an essay about his views on the different subjects discussed.
“Some of it you have to be drug through … I’m an outdoors person, not so much into politics,” Faucheux said. “But you have those couple people on your back to push you up that mountain, and it’s so helpful. (An Eagle Scout badge) is something you can carry with you for the rest of your life.”
Wayment was also quite proud of his accomplishment.
“When I finally got it, I was so relieved,” he said. “It was a really great moment for me.”
Wayment said his time in the scouts has strengthened his moral fiber and made him into a better citizen. He plans to attend Brigham Young University in Utah as he becomes an even more well-traveled young man — he is a native of Texas and also lived in West Virginia before moving to St. Charles Parish with his family as a fifth grader.
But before he reaches BYU, Wayment will spend two years in Minnesota serving a mission for his Mormon church, following in the footsteps of his father and older brother.
During his time at Hahnville, he was a standout on the tennis team. He and doubles partner Shaun Bui went unbeaten through regionals and earned MVP honors in their district. He was also a member of the school band, the Beta Club and National Honor Society.
Faucheux, meanwhile, said his time with the Scouts taught him to be more respectful to people as well as teaching numerous important life skills, be it cooking, how to manage money or how to maintain personal fitness.
“As far as personal discipline, scouting helped me round into it,” Faucheux said. “I have ADHD, so it can sometimes be harder for me to stay on track and focused. All these things in scouting have helped me do it. It makes you learn the value of being organized.”
Faucheux plans to study instrumentation at South Central Louisiana Technical College and to eventually become a technician. He is already ahead of the curve there, as he has already earned three college credits earned through a Satellite Center course.
“I’m going to try my best in school to get good grades so they’ll want to hire me right out of school,” he said.
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