Aidan Underwood

Whether I'm working out in the morning or reading the Bible at night, spending time with God has helped me understand Him better, get through rough times, and enjoy peace. Reading The Great Divorce and Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis helped me feel closer to God. Here are a few titles I'd like to read over the next year: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, Tactics by Gregory Koukl, Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung, and Truth Changes Everything by Dr. Jeff Myers.

BSA has provided me with limitless opportunities to experience various facets of life. Scouting challenged me — it encourages you to do things you wouldn't normally do. Scouting was not a series of ranks, patches, and camping trips — it was an experience that showed me how to live, to keep going, even in the face of others giving up. And most of all, walking a unique path, even if solitary, is perfectly acceptable.

More About My Scouting Journey

Weekly piano lessons were a welcome break during high school. I was able to select music that interested me and share my love of music at two piano recitals each year YouTube. My favorite pieces have been Chopin's Nocturne No. 20, Debussy's Clair De Lune, Tchaikovsky's Suite Bergamasque from the Nutcracker (third movement, pas de deux), and Liszt's Liebestraum.

A couple years ago, I started composing music to accompany my filmmaking YouTube. Composers that inspire me are Hans Zimmer, Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, and John Williams.

Traveling to England, Edinburgh, and Paris allowed me to experience history first hand. Walking where monarchs were coronated, Marie Antoinette guillotined, and touching the remains of a Roman wall really made me feel connected to the past. Seeing Agatha Christie's “The Mousetrap” was also an amazing experience, but that's all I can say since once you've seen the play, you're sworn to secrecy.

I've always loved reading. Here are a few photos of my shelf.

What I'm Reading
There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History
A Murder of Quality by John le Carré 
Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger
Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland
Dune Messiah
The Screwtape Letters

Next Up
Einstein: His Life and Universe
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Recent Favorites
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Call for the Dead by John le Carré 
The Sun Also Rises
Dune

It's hard to love reading without picking up a pen. I've always enjoyed telling stories, whether it's about a mysterious manor in 1920s England, Boy Scouts lost in a forest, or an astronaut trapped on the Ice Planet in 2702. Alongside writing short stories, my love for film led me to screenwriting.

More About My Writing

What writing would I share during our weekly Creative Writing class with Mrs. Fryer? Ann Elizabeth Fryer, a published historical fiction writer, provided an encouraging space to share our writing, receive feedback, and listen to diverse voices. With writing topics each week and group exercises, seeing where my drop-and-write might take me was interesting. She also generously provided seasonal workshops to keep our writing group connected.

More About My Writing

Over the summer of 2021, a group of students decided to meet and form a club to discuss significant world philosophers and their impact on history and culture from a Christian worldview. It was energizing yet fatiguing since some meetings became short debates. We concluded each meeting with ice cream, which lightened the mood.

During weekly group tennis lessons with Dan Brunner, a St. Clair Tennis Pro, I developed better agility, speed, balance, and coordination. But playing tennis is more than that; I learned as a player to be honest, fair, and peacefully resolve differences while calling a shot or game. I'll be back on the court this fall and hope to play in the USTA men's league.

I joined the St. Louis STOA speech and debate team during my first high school year. Meeting for three hours every Monday was a great experience to learn about Lincoln Douglas debates, but my favorite experience was preparing my Humorous Interpretation speech of Hamlet's soliloquy. That season my voice changed and left me with a deep tone — perfect for my last speech. I learned how to deliver a speech, communicate clearly, and develop an argument. Mondays were long days, but I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be part of a Christian speech and debate league.

As a small groups leader, Christ Church Teens helped me grow while connecting and sharing my faith with other teens, especially preparing and leading the youth group with a study of Philemon and Hebrews. Our youth pastors, Zack Funk and Erica Peel, encouraged and guided me, patiently answered my questions, gave me opportunities to lead, and were there for me during challenging times. I wouldn't be who I am without them.

As an FCA Student Leader and certified Huddle Leader, I wrote and presented our weekly group devotion to 20-30 students. Discussing the topic and interacting with middle and high school students allowed me to answer their questions and enhance their understanding, but most importantly, I discovered that encouraging them to be active in reading God's word led to spiritual growth and eventually becoming FCA leaders themselves. The experience was energizing; sharing my faith taught me how to reach different people in various ways.

Summit taught me the skills to defend my faith, strengthened my biblical worldview, and led me to make lifelong friends. A diverse group of speakers explained difficult topics and had insightful answers to my questions, which helped me evaluate different views and have the confidence to share my faith. Our small groups leader and a couple of students still keep in touch; we support each other with advice or just being someone who can listen and walk with each other when life gets difficult.

Three years ago, I created StoneDomino, a YouTube channel, to share my interests and connect with the LEGO global community. I've added branding, adjusted marketing, and shaped my content based on the analytics and demographics of my audience. I never thought I would have viewers in Romania. My skills are improving, and I'm producing better quality videos, learning to release content on specific days, market to a specific audience, and make changes when the results aren't what I expect. StoneDomino is growing into an investment company, buying and selling rare or unique LEGO. Deciding on what to invest in, finding local and online rare sets, and figuring out which sets are likely to go up in value is fun to research.

LEGO has also brought together my love for architecture, film, and history. Learning stop-motion and computer animation to tell stories took practice. Sometimes a rendering doesn't work or you have to reshoot a scene if something is out of place, so it's time-consuming. To create complex and expansive scenes, I learned to use Bricklink Studio, a database with 3D models of almost every LEGO part ever made. By doing this, I removed the greatest limitation of LEGO animation — parts. I could create anything, and with its built-in rendering system, my computer-generated scenes were nearly indistinguishable from those made with real LEGO. StoneDomino.com

BSA has provided me with limitless opportunities to experience various facets of life. Earning 30 additional merit badges than required for Eagle Scout rank led me to delve into the diverse fields of professions and pursue my curiosities. Scouting made me feel comfortable even when I was out of my comfort zone because it encourages you to do things you wouldn't normally do. I learned to set goals and work towards them. Weekends were spent camping with the troop, rank advancement requirements, or working toward merit badges. It took two years to complete the Archeology merit badge; it felt like three merit badges in one. Early on in my journey, the merit badge counselor showed me that you have to stay committed and persevere.

When a new Senior Patrol Leader (SPL) is elected, Troop 40's Scoutmaster wears his t-shirt that says "Ask Your SPL" on the back. When I first started serving as SPL, there were lots of questions. The troop was transitioning to a larger group of first-year students, so I realized that I had to become dispensable, so I could concentrate on planning with the Scoutmaster. So instead of answering the patrol leader's questions or solving their problems for them, I asked them their questions back to them, showing them the habit of problem-solving first, then asking for guidance. Being an SPL taught me to ensure everyone is accounted for, stretched in some way, and included. And how to turn a challenging situation around, uniting the troop in a common goal.

Valuing the history of Scouting, I started collecting early handbooks to understand how Boy Scouts had changed since it began in 1910. As I read these, I wanted to bring back the original qualities of scouting my troop had lost. During my time as SPL, I restored the Philmont grace and brought back the traditional court of honor I saw in my old handbooks. 

During the months of preparing my community service project, I worked with the Village of Shiloh to install benches at Three Springs Park. I met with people in various roles in the village to coordinate and plan the project and learned hands-on how a citizen can make things happen locally. The process of solving logistics, such as how to get the materials into an area only accessible by a sidewalk, was interesting because I had to speak with several people, each with their unique point of view. Being prepared allowed my fellow scouts and I to have a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying the work on the project. The benches provide a place for seniors and children to rest along the 2-mile path, but the best reason I like to sit there is the beautiful view of the lake, trees, and wildlife. Walking the lake, I sometimes see someone sitting and resting on a bench. I want to have the opportunity to do more of that, to improve someone's life.

After receiving the rank of Eagle Scout, my journey wasn't over. As a Troop Guide, I welcomed first-year scouts, helped them adjust to Scouting, and taught rank advancement skills so the scouts could earn their First Class rank. I would teach a scout a new skill, and once they mastered it, I would show them how they could teach the skill to another scout, giving them an opportunity to lead. For the older scouts, I encouraged less active scouts to keep going and offered Life Scouts assistance to make it to Eagle. It was a surprise when I was honored with six Eagle palms for my dedication to Scouting. 

Scouting was not a series of ranks, patches, and camping trips — it was an experience that showed me how to live, to keep going, even in the face of others giving up. And most of all, walking a unique path, even if solitary, is perfectly acceptable.

As an Eagle Scout, it is my duty and responsibility to always to help people, my community, and my country, regardless of where my path takes me. And I understand that to do that, I need to keep myself "physically strong and mentally awake." I'll bring to wherever I go to college the Scout Oath and Law principles, embodying honesty, integrity, respect for others, and the value of a community working together. "Once an eagle, always an eagle" — your true character never changes.

More About My Scouting Journey

There's something cool about getting a patch in the shape of an exploding star and then adding triangular, gold pi pins to it just for doing things I'm interested in. Living only 25 minutes from St. Louis allowed me to be part of the largest STEM Nova awards program in Scouting. I learned from professionals active in their field about conservation, engineering, nuclear science, robotics, and energy renewal, all in a college setting. So my spring and winter breaks were spent at St. Louis University, Southeast Missouri State University, and Southern Illinois University (Carbondale and Edwardsville) — it was something I looked forward to each year. Two years in a row I competed my personally built robot at St. Louis University's Scoutbotics event and went to the summer STEM camp at Beaumont Scout Reservation, where I learned to work with other Scouts to find a possible solution to a real-world problem, cleaning up creek and river trash. I was so interested in this that our family helped with the Missouri River Relief and spent Saturdays cleaning up parts of the Missouri River. But the most amazing experience was the day I spent digging at Monks Mound with the Washington University archeologists at Cahokia Mounds (Mound 34). It's interesting that I'm not majoring in science, but who knows, that might change.

More About My Scouting Journey

Months of working towards the God and Church award, a Scout and I decided to visit each other's church. That visit changed my life. After being welcomed by the student ministry and other teens, I decided to go back every Sunday. Then my parents joined, while I sat with the youth at the front of the church. Before long we were solely going to Christ Church, and it was another way Scouting impacted my life in a profound way. Christ Church Teens and the God and Church award ignited my spiritual growth and helped me explore a closer relationship with God. I'll never forget Zack Funk, director of Student Ministries, presenting me with the award, and weeks afterwards, he baptized me. The experience led me to invite friends and grow our community.