For Austen Gast, there was never any question about becoming an Eagle Scout.
It was a goal he reached for from the time he was a Cub Scout, and a goal he achieved just weeks ago.
Now 18 and a graduate of Peotone High School, he joined scouting in 2013 as a Cub with Robert Wilcox and Troop 315.
As a student at Peotone High School, he played football and was the recipient of the Terry’s Ford of Peotone Scholarship.
These days, he’s attending Joliet Junior College in pursuit of a career in law enforcement.
He is a young man of few words, and not given to boasting about his accomplishments. But he admits he is happy to have achieved the highest rank in scouting.
“I did always want to be an Eagle,” he admitted.
“I feel great about reaching Eagle and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
His required community service project was building four picnic tables for Peotone High School and painting them blue and white, the school colors.
“I had a lot of help from all of the scouts in Troop 315 and I want to thank everyone who helped me, no matter what.”
Scoutmaster Wilcox predicts he will become an outstanding cop. He also remembers that he took some teasing over his dislike of cheese.
“Austen was a Cub Scout joining as a Tiger and stayed in Scouting all the way to Eagle,” Wilcox said.
“My first memory with Austen was his first campout where we learned that he didn’t like cheese, except on pizza, or waking up early.
“We had a lot of fun with his aversion to cheese, except on pizza, and though many times I tried to convince him that whatever we were eating that had cheese on it was okay to eat because it was ‘pizza’, somehow he didn’t believe me.
“Austen is a fine young man,” Wilcox added, “and it has been a pleasure watching him blossom in Scouting these past years. “I’m excited to see what the next few years will bring. He’s currently studying to become a police officer and I know he will make a fine officer.”