On May 21, Nishi Scout Troop 738 at L.A. Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Little Tokyo recognized Matthew Shigeru Hayashi, who earned scouting’s highest rank, Eagle Scout.

During the Eagle Investiture ceremony, Matthew was honored and made the solemn oath to responsibly represent the highest values and impeccable moral character expected of an Eagle Scout, and become a guide to all others and an exemplary citizen of his community.

Matthew was born to Grant and Sheryl Hayashi on April 12, 2005. He has an older sister, Samantha, who earned her Gold Award as a part of Nishi’s Girl Scout Troop 12135. He is currently a San Pedro High School senior, planning to major in materials engineering at UCLA. 

He started with the troop as a Tiger Cub, meeting new friends and becoming closer to old ones. He progressed with them through Cub Scouts and earned his Arrow of Light. He then bridged over to Nishi’s Boy Scout Troop  738 with most of his fellow Webelo scouts.

Through scouting, he created lifelong memories with his fellow scouts. Whether it was camping with the troop, staying late for manju nights, helping out at Obon, or weekly meetings, every activity was fun and enjoyable. As a member of the troop, he held the positions of senior patrol leader, troop guide, and troop scribe, just to name a few. 

Apart from scouting, Matthew also plays basketball for the South Bay F.O.R. organization, plays the trumpet for his high school’s marching band, San Pedro Golden Pirate Regiment, and is the president of Nishi’s Junior Young Buddhist Association.

His favorite outdoor memory with the troop was attending his first summer camp at Camp Cherry Valley on Catalina Island. Because it was his first summer camp, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but he quickly learned that summer camp was a place to have fun and meet other scouts. He enjoyed the hikes, aquatic activities, and merit badges. At summer camp, he also learned to be enthusiastic about scouting and that things are only as fun as you make them.

During the summer before his senior year, Matthew was fortunate to work with his high school’s marching band director, Marc Manriquez, the band’s volunteer trailer driver, Rudy Cruz, assistant scoutmasters, and fellow scouts. His project was to create shelving to make transporting everyone’s instruments from the Olguin Campus to the Flagship Campus, or vice versa, easier. This also made it easier for everyone to store their instruments instead of piling them up on the trailer floor. Doing this project allowed him to give back to the marching band that he was a part of since freshman year

Matthew is grateful for everyone who has helped him throughout this memorable journey:

To Scoutmaster Chavez and the ASMs for giving up their Friday nights and weekends to supervise the troop, meet for scoutmaster conferences, attend camping trips, and more. 

To the troop parents for being merit badge counselors and for helping the troop function. 

He would also like to thank all his fellow scouts for helping him with requirements for a certain rank, providing guidance, and being great role models. 

Last but not least, he would like to thank his family for their constant support at each step of his journey. Without their selflessness, he wouldn’t have made it to obtain the Eagle rank.

He knows he doesn’t say it nearly as much as he ought to, but he is deeply grateful for everyone’s help, whether big or small, for these past 12 years. 

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