Making History

You’ll never know what it’s like if you don’t go for it.

When Gabrielle Montoya hit a place of burn-out during her pursuit of the rank of Eagle Scout, that thought helped her keep going.

In a packed auditorium at the Los Lunas Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene in late August, Montoya recounted her journey.

“I did this for my Scout sisters and biological brothers,” Montoya said. “We all learned together. I just didn’t get Eagle Scout rank — we all did.”

As the reality of her accomplishment seemed to set in, emotions overwhelmed her and Montoya’s Scout sisters from Troop 831 surrounded her for a group hug as she broke down in tears. As the girls cleared away, Montoya emerged, beaming and ready to take the Eagle Scout oath.

When Montoya, of El Cerro, joined Scouting at age 11, she wanted to find more ways to enjoy the outdoors in addition to showing Arabian horses. She is a founding member of Troop 831, which was created after the Boy Scouts of America’s 2019 decision to have all-girl troops under the Scouts BSA program.

Now, a senior at the Albuquerque Institute for Math and Science charter school, the 17-year-old has achieved a rank only 6 percent of Scouts ever make — Eagle Scout.

A desire to be outside more turned into an appreciation of the leadership ability she was granted through Scouting, Montoya said.

“I really liked the ability to practice skills in the real world, in real-life situations,” she said. “You can get student council opportunities and stuff like that in school, but it’s a lot different when you understand there’s a practical aspect in learning leadership and you have to figure it out yourself.”

Part of earning the Eagle Scout rank includes a project completely planned by the Scout from start to finish. It can be just about anything, but it has to give back to the community in some way, Montoya said.

Montoya’s project was to make and donate dog beds to Valencia County Animal Services for the dogs at the shelter using old tires. She lead a team of two dozen people in making 20 to 25 beds for the shelter.

“It comes with paperwork. It comes with everything you might have to do for a real-life adult project. You need a project proposal and a plan,” she said. “What they tell you during your Eagle project is that you almost shouldn’t be doing whatever it is. You should be the manager.

“It was a super artistic project. It was something that really spoke to me because I love animals.”

When she graduates from AIMS, Montoya says it’s her dream to go into veterinary medicine. First, she plans to finish her associate degree she’s working on at CNM, then pursue a four-year degree in biology and finally, get into veterinarian school.

Growing up, she and her family always had animals, Montoya said.

“Horses, dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, goats. It’s just been something that I’ve always been passionate about. When it rains, I’ll do this thing called ‘toad rescuing.’ We’ll drive around the neighborhood and pick them up off the road. I love animals, so I want to help other people who love animals.”

When she first joined the Scouts, Montoya remembers meeting an Eagle Scout from the local boys Troop 116.

“I was immediately super inspired to try and reach for that, like reach for the highest level I possibly could because you know, for better or worse, I’m usually pretty competitive,” she says with a laugh.

A Scout is required to earn 21 merit badges to get their Eagle Scout rank. Montoya has earned 48 badges.

Back in 2020, Montoya was one of the original three girls in Troop 831, which had one patrol, the Atomic Narwhals. The senior patrol leader for the patrol, she told the News-Bulletin her goal was to make Eagle Scout.

“I like to learn and I think this will be helpful to get a job,” Montoya said during the 2020 interview. “I want to become an Eagle Scout because I like to win.”

Now she can claim the win of becoming the first female Eagle Scout in Valencia County.

“This is super cool to be able to pave a path and make history ... to be the first female (Eagle Scout) in our county. Part way through this journey I sort of burned out. I didn’t even know if I wanted to reach for it still, but one of the things that kept me going was I was paving a pathway,” she said.