SPRING LAKE, Mich. — When it comes to Scouts, there's no higher honor than reaching the Eagle rank.
Achieving such a status is incredibly rare, especially for women — it was only four years ago they could even join Boy Scouts.
However, one West Michigan woman took that challenge head on, hoping to accomplish her dream and inspire other young girls in the process.
“I'd wanted to be one before even I was allowed in Scouts," said Anna Hultman, an 18-year-old student at Spring Lake High School. "So, I joined Scouts as soon as women were allowed in, and I've been working towards it every minute since then.”
For Hultman, becoming an Eagle Scout has always been the goal. However, for so long, that goal was, at most, a distant fantasy.
The rank was only reserved for boys. So, in the meantime, she stayed active with Girl Scouts, a group she has been a part of since she was in kindergarten.
"What I found with Girl Scouts is that it's just a different program at its core," Hultman said. "There's nothing wrong with that or anything, but it's more indoor-centric. So, there was a lot of bake sales, there was a lot of like pumpkin carvings and festival/holiday sort of stuff.”
She added, "I've always sort of been inclined to do outdoorsy stuff, like camping, hiking, canoeing."
Hultman's younger brother, Andrew, is a Boy Scout. Her dad, Eric, is a Scoutmaster.
She tried her best to be involved, but officially had to stay on the sidelines. Then, a few years ago, the impossible became the attainable.
Eric, speaking to his daughter, said, "when that door opened up, we talked about it and you were excited.”
Hultman, and others, could finally walk through that door in 2019. Boy Scouts of America became Scouts BSA, and began accepting girls.
“Being in the program, especially towards the beginning, you did hear some pushback on that," Hultman said. "Just being involved as a woman — a lot of it just comes from the viewpoint that it seems like women are infiltrating a program that was only for guys. I can understand that. But ,at the same time, BSA Boy Scouts just offers something very different to Girl Scouts. It's unfair, regardless, to try and make that exclusive to men.”
The transition was tricky at first. The unit she tried to start in Spring Lake didn't get enough members.
So, she joined Troop 2 in Zeeland in December 2019, where she's become more than a member — she's a leader.
“Essentially, what I've been doing is helping the scouts figure out what they want to do for their projects, how they can get through their different requirements and ranks, and then just trying to stay active in the program," she said.
Hultman is the troop's Assistant Scoutmaster. Her eyes, though, were always set on that same thing — earning an Eagle rank
Even at this stage, the odds were still stacked against her. Only five percent of scouts achieve that status, according to ScoutSmarts, and only 2.5 percent of scouts are women, according to Zippia.
Those are just numbers.
Since we're talking numbers — you need a minimum of 21 merit badges to quality for Eagle. Hultman earned 41.
That once distant fantasy is now a dream come true.
She even beat her younger brother to the badge.
“As soon as I joined scouts, I told him, 'I'm going to be an Eagle,'" Hultman said. "I did. So, he lost. But it's okay. He can still get it.”
Anna's not just leading by example for Andrew. She's also inspiring the next generation of young girls.
"I'm actively working with some of the younger girls, and they're looking up to me," she said with a smile on her face. "They're asking me questions, saying stuff like, 'Oh, I want to be an Eagle Scout one day too.' And I'm just like, 'You have to stick with it. Give it your best and give it your all.'”
Even after this accomplishment, Hultman isn't done reaching for the stars. She hopes to be a Scoutmaster one day, just like her father.
In the meantime, after she graduates high school she'll head off to GVSU to eventually become an art teacher.