Nilay Shriram of Livingston Boy Scout Troop 12 became an Eagle Scout during a Court of Honor ceremony on Saturday, January 6. The Eagle Scout rank is the highest rank that the Boys Scouts of America offers.
During his ceremony, Mayor A1 Anthony congratulated Shriram on his Eagle Project, which benefits St. Hubert’s Animal Shelter. Anthony stated that Shriram’s project personally touched him, as he is the liaison to the Livingston Council’s Animal Shelters, and his father had owned a pet store for over 37 years.
Shriram began his scouting career during second grade, at eight years old. He joined as a Wolf Scout in Pack 16. Over his elementary school years, he gained different Cub Scout skills; collecting various belt loops; participating in the exciting pinewood derby; and going to Taconic every December.
After earning the Arrow of Light Award in February 2017, Shriram continued his scouting journey with Troop 12 Livingston, joining his older brother, Anish, who achieved his Eagle Scout Rank in 2021.
Shriram’s first campout was chaotic and unpredictable, but fun. The campsite was negative 10 degrees by the time the Troop reached it. With only rakes, the scouts had to scrape off the frozen over snow and ice off of each tent platform. Eventually, by the time Shriram and his fellow scouts went to sleep in their freezing tents, it was close to midnight. He was not scared away by the daunting campouts, but instead, he was intrigued, and ready for every scouting challenge that faced him.
This determination ledhim to rank up to Scout in just his first meeting; supposedly the fastest anyone had become a Scout rank in the history of Troop 12, according to Scout committee chairman, Richard Waxman.
Shriram continued to rank up while picking up on different leadership and scout skills; going to as many campouts as possible, while also being inspired by his brother, Anish, and his patrol leader, Max Sayer, to become a great leader and scout.
He was selected for the Junior Leadership Training Conference in 2019 to further his leadership skills. Eventually, Shriram took up dual leadership positions in the Troop by being both the Historian and Patrol Leader. He continued these leadership positions in the troop for over three and a half years.
In August of 2021, he attended National Youth Leadership Training at Camp Turrell, stating that it was his favorite campout ever. Shriram was a leader in the troop for the majority of his time in scouting, hoping he could inspire incoming scouts the same way he was inspired by leaders of the Troop when he had initially joined.
In hopes to make his Eagle Project special and personal to himself, Shriram looked to his family dog that has been with him since the time he joined Cub Scouts. Samik, a rescue beagle-foxhound mix dog adopted from St. Hubert’s Animal Shelter in Madison, NJ, has been with the Shriram family since 2016.
In order to show his appreciation to St. Hubert’s, he decided to do a service drive to benefit the wellness center. Over the course of a few months, he collected over one hundred items, including bags of food, crates, toys, and much more.
Scouting has been an integral part of Shriram’s life, and he has earned 28 merit badges; the World Conservation Award; the National Outdoor Achievement Award; and the NationalYouth Leadership Training Certificate.
Shriram is currently a junior at Livingston High School. Outside of Boy Scouts, Shriram loves research, and has published four DNA sequences of ‘Landoltia punctata’ that he cloned and analyzed in the National Center of Biotechnology Information database. He hopes to further his interest in biocomputational engineering by starting a research project on creating neural networks for disease diagnosis.
His other extra curricular activities include Debate Club; Coding Club; Addiction Awareness Club; All Smiles Club; and the Future Business Leaders of America.
Shriram is an avid basketball fan, rooting for his favorite NBA team, the Brooklyn Nets. He also enjoys listening to Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator, Mac Miller, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, and more.
