LOUISVILLE, Ky — Thomas Gordon of Mt. Washington is not your typical high school student.
Saying “I’ve always kind of been motivated from a young age,” he decided at age 15 what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. After his sophomore year at Bullitt East High School, he also enrolled in Jefferson County Technical College to study airplane mechanics.
Thomas loved aviation his entire life and wanted to be a pilot for the Air Force. When vision issues made that impossible, he wasn’t deterred. He took his lifetime love of fixing cars and transitioned it to airplanes, targeting his dream job fixing planes for UPS. Some people might be nervous about making their career choice at such a young age, but he said “it makes me feel excited because I’m getting a step ahead of everyone. I’ve started doing this at 16, 17; most people don’t start doing it until they’re in their 20s. So it’s kind of exciting a little bit because I’m given this great opportunity from the school and from the state of Kentucky, so it’d be stupid not to seize it.”
He also seizes the day when it comes to his other passion: the Boy Scouts of America. Only four percent of Scouts achieve the Eagle Scout ranking, but following the theme of being motivated, Thomas did it when he was just 13 years old! He acknowledged, “Yeah it is young. Most people, the average age is about 17. So I kind of had to push myself a little bit to get that one. But overall that was my goal, wanted to get it done before I went to High School.”
Alice Welch is the Assistant Scoutmaster for BSA Troop 100. She says sometimes when kids reach the Eagle Scout level, they take a step back and move on to other things. But not Thomas. He continues to earn merit badges and lead Troop outings and comes to every weekly meeting to mentor young Scouts.
Thomas has earned a whopping 54 Merit Badges, 30 of them AFTER he became an Eagle Scout. He’s also been on 83 outings since 2017, doing the planning and leadership for many of them as a Senior Patrol Leader.
As part of the Scouts, Thomas also gives back to the Bullitt County community. He’s especially proud of his efforts in the “Scouting for Food” food drive, where he collects 1,000 food items a year for those who need them.
He does all this while helping his grandfather and mother battle cancer. He said dealing with those illnesses forced him to be mature: “It's taught me quite a bit about having to grow up a little. Grow up in a short time.”
According to Welch, Thomas has grown into a young man defined by four traits: “responsibility, leadership, goal-oriented and he finishes things once he starts them.” She added “I'm glad my son likes him because he's such a good role model.”
A role model … and a worthy recipient of the Spectrum News 1 High School Scholar Award.