John Goodspeed Q&A

You’ll find a story on the Goodspeed brothers in this week’s version of The Catholic Review. Now, get to know them individually. Here are some question and answers I did with John Goodspeed. Each of the quadruplets got the same questions, so it’s interesting to see some differences and similarities.

Matt: What was it like growing up as a group of boys together? John: It was fun! For the most part at least. We always had someone to play with. But that means we always had someone to fight with too.

Matt: How did your parents keep you guys all in line? John: They just raised us really well and we listen to them… for the most part!

Matt: When did you all join Scouts? John: We started scouts as tiger cubs. Then we moved up through cub scouts and joined boy scouts when we were in 5th grade.

Matt: Did each of you want to do it or was there a holdout? John: I think each of us wanted to do it because a lot of our friends were doing it as well.

Matt: How much work goes into being a Scout and when did it become a goal to become an Eagle Scout? John: A lot of work goes into being a scout. As you get older and move your way through the ranks, it becomes more and more difficult. It became a goal to become an Eagle Scout when we first joined boy scouts.

Matt: Did you ever think about walking away and what kept you in it? John: Yes. I thought about walking away multiple times- whenever the going got tough or there was event that I wasn’t the most interested in attending. My parents are the main reason we stayed in scouts.

Matt: Did scouting strengthen your faith? How? John: I think that scouting definitely strengthened my faith. This is because through scouting I have learned a lot about my catholic religion and as a scout I am called to be reverent.

Matt: What were your biggest challenges to becoming Eagle Scouts and how did you overcome them? John: My biggest challenge to becoming an Eagle Scout was finding enough time to complete the requirements. This included the leadership positions and the leadership project.

Matt: What did you pick for your Eagle Scout project and how did you go about doing it? John: My Eagle project was completed at the (Howard) County Conservancy. I constructed a series of 12 steps leading up a hill to a raptor (bird) cage. I also created a small garden which had plants which were indigenous to the birds habitats.

Matt: What did it feel like to accomplish it? John: It felt really good to finally finish my Eagle project because I could see the finished project and reflect on how much time, work, and leadership went into completing it.

Matt: What was it like to stand together at the ceremony as Eagle Scouts? John: It was pretty cool to be able to have the ceremony with all four of us together. We all worked hard on attaining the rank of Eagle.

Matt: What were some of the highlights of the World Youth Day trip? John: It was amazing to see how many people shared the same faith as I did and so many different countries were represented there.

Matt: Now that you’re all at college, what’s it like being away from one another during the day? John: It’s nice! I think it’s good being separated now so we will have a better relationship with each other in the future.

Matt: How do you keep in contact now? John: Mostly through Facebook. but if we really wanted to talk to each other we can just text each other.

Matt: What’s next in scouting for you? John: We are currently Assistant Scoutmasters but it’s really hard to attend the meetings and events because I’ve become really busy with school and work.