NATCHEZ — “On my honor, I will do my best.”

Three bright Cathedral students have lived by that oath, and they were celebrated Sunday for earning the highest distinction of the Boy Scouts of America: the ranking of Eagle Scout.

Senior Altman Biggs and juniors Will Vaughan and Hayes Daly, all members of Troop 158, received their badges in an Eagle Scout Court of Honor, hosted in St. Therese Chapel in the basement of St. Mary Basilica.

Biggs actually finished his Eagle Scout project approximately a year and a half ago, when he and his team built a variety of birdhouses for Glenburney Nursing Home. Biggs joked that the moment has been “a long time coming” waiting on his friends to finish their projects.

“I’ve tried to be patient and just constantly asking the other guys when they’re going to get theirs done,” Biggs said, joking.

Biggs said he plans to one day enter a physical therapy program, and he feels his Eagle Scout project helped him prepare for that step.

“We had to do a lot of paperwork,” Biggs said. “It took a while to just sit there and do the application. It’s like a 50-page application, and it just took a lot of grinding to get done.”

But that grinding paid off. Vaughan said the culmination of Sunday’s ceremony is something he will always look back upon fondly.

“It was definitely a moment I will remember forever,” Vaughan said. “It’s definitely a very honorable award. I’m so grateful to achieve it, but also to serve others in my community.”

For Vaughan’s project, he led a landscaping effort at the Concordia Parish Airport, where his group installed flower beds in the front and back of the terminal building.

“The area was overgrown and really in pretty bad shape,” Vaughan said.

His goal was to fix the airport up so visitors would have a good first impression of the area.

Vaughan said he is “torn” between engineering or veterinary school in terms of his ambitions.

Last but not least, Daly said becoming an Eagle Scout is “probably the biggest accomplishment of my life.”

“It was amazing,” he said. “I’ve been doing (scouting) for six years, and there’s just so many little steps on the way up to Eagle. It was just so exciting to finally get there.”

Daly’s father, Dr. Edward Daly III, who is also an Eagle Scout, spoke at the ceremony to give the boys the Eagle Scout Charge. The charge reminds scouts of the “honor and responsibility” that comes with the designation. The younger Daly said the scouts have taught him how to take charge.

“Leadership — that’s probably the biggest thing that I’ve taken away from it,” Daly said.

Daly plans to attend the Air Force Academy and become a pilot.

To conclude the ceremony, Biggs paid tribute to his former scout leader, Freddie Voss, who died in September 2014. Biggs dedicated his Eagle Scout Project to Voss’ memory.

“Mr. Freddie was a mentor,” Biggs said. “He helped me to stay in scouts and made me want to become an Eagle.

“He was the quintessential scout, and I wanted to become just like him.”

Fittingly, Edward Daly used that exact phrase — “the quintessential scout” — to describe Biggs.

Biggs said he still feels Voss’ influence today.

“He just guides me,” Biggs said. “I felt like he was there guiding me through the Eagle Scout project.”

All three scouts said the work to become an Eagle was well worth it, and Daly encouraged anyone interested to consider becoming a scout.

“Anybody who thinks that they’d want to do this, younger kids, definitely do not pass the opportunity,” Daly said. “It’s one of the greatest things you can do.”