Ian Parai, a senior at Mehlville High School, has accomplished what few – approximately 620 Scouts, to be exact – have done: earned every single available merit badge. 

“I think for me, it was just the desire to collect them all. As you can see on this sash here, it really does tell a story of all the cool things I’ve done,” Parai said. “I actually started by only wanting to get a hundred. Well, I got a hundred in four years; relatively quickly, truth be told. Then I just decided to do more.” 

Parai earned his first merit badge in February 2018 and wrapped up number 139 this past January, traveling anywhere from New Mexico and West Virginia to Tennessee and South Dakota, all to complete the arduous task. Parai and his family even drove through a Michigan snowstorm one winter on the way to Traverse City to earn the snow sports merit badge. 

“(My dad) drove us through it. He’s the main hero,” Parai said. 

Though some of Parai’s badges – particularly the mandatory Eagle Scout badges – were earned with the rest of his troop, Troop 824, the majority were earned solo. 

“There’s a lot of merit badges out there that are three-monthers. You can’t just sit down one day and get it done, you have to work on it. You have to make a conscious effort for a very long time, and that takes dedication,” Parai said.

Despite spending long, dedicated hours spent on earning each merit badge, Parai enjoyed the experience. Some of his favorite badges earned include canoeing, bird watching and plant science/gardening. Parai’s overall favorite, however – though without a doubt, the most difficult badge to earn –  was scuba diving.

“You have to get scuba certified through PADI or NOWI or some other renowned scuba organization,” Parai explained. “There’s a lot of bookwork involved.You don’t even get in the water (at first). You read and read and read and you answer questions. It is like a class, like driver’s ed.”

After completing tests and practicing five times in a pool, Parai was finally able to dive in open water.

“We went down to Mermet Springs in Southern Illinois, it’s this big flooded quarry with planes and trucks and buses and bowling balls and anything you can think of, they’ve sunk down there. We did some open water dives, we did more skill training, more drills, underwater compass work. Then we just got to have fun and see some of the sites firsthand,” Parai said.

Though not every water-related merit badge could be done as hands-on as scuba diving, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To show the merit badge counselor over Zoom that I knew how to cast a line (for the fishing merit badge), I had to go out to my driveway with my fishing rod,” Parai said. “I cast the line with a bit too much enthusiasm, a bit too much fervor. The bobber is still up in the tree, even to this very day. That was in December 2020. We’re going on five years.”

As far as future plans, Parai will attend Mizzou in August to major in biomedical engineering. He plans on minoring in either math, French or music, and to remain involved with Scouting. 

“It’s one heck of a thing,” Parai said. “Scouting is a program that millions of people have joined over its 115 years now, and I am proud to be one of the crème de la crème. It’s been an amazing experience …  I’m hoping I can give back and hopefully lead other scouts to similar goals.”