The following is my own personal opinion on the Girl Scouts and is not my professional testimony on the organization. I am not writing on behalf of the organization.
As well, to clear any confusion, when I say girls below here, I am using the Girl Scout definition of girl which is if a child is recognized as a girl by their family and school/community and lives culturally as a girl.
I have mentioned it a couple of times on here, but I am an active Girl Scout. Girl Scouts is what pushed me into the out of doors and ever since has entwined itself into my everyday life. I have felt very connected to the organization and feel that I have reached a full circle in some aspects. For instance, I currently work for a Girl Scout council and recently found out that my grandmother was a Girl Scout with this council. It was such a crazy discovery that I was at a place where my grandmother participated with seventy years prior. She even went to a Girl Scout camp (pictured below), that our council still owns!
If you have ever been on the fence about this organization or need some reconvincing as to why it is awesome, here are just a couple of reasons why I choose Girl Scouts.
First, Girl Scouts is what you make of it
I say this all the time. I think people have this notion that we strictly sell cookies. There are troops that absolutely love the cookie sale and the entrepreneurial skills it gives you. Do you know how much skills a Daisy gains by asking a stranger or a neighbor if they would like to buy cookies?! There are also other troops or girls that enjoy other aspects of Girl Scouts like camping or earning the higher awards.
I myself really enjoyed Girl Scout camp. I made this my Girl Scout experience, just as I had friends that made theirs about traveling internationally (which was succeeded partly because of the cookie sale) or others that made their experience about earning the highest achievement award, the Gold Award. Girl Scouts is a flexible program. There is programming that covers STEM topics to art in the outdoors. While your troop might collectively aim for a goal together, you can also as an individual create your own Girl Scout experience. It creates a great balance between teamwork while also learning about self motivation.
All girl and girl led works (We have research!)
Girl Scouts actually has its own research institute where it researches the power of girl led girls only programming and its effect on young women. Their impact study concludes that girls who participate in Girl Scouts are more likely to be in leadership roles and do better in the classroom. Pretty dope right? I won’t summarize it because honestly, everyone should just read the study!
I have been in Girl Scouts since I was 7 and have been working with them since I was 16. I know for certain that I wouldn’t be where I was today in my confidence and self-determination without Girl Scouts in my life. Every boss I have worked with was a Girl Scout and a strong, amazing women. As well, since working in Girl Scouts, I have worked besides some strong and inspiring women coworkers. In today’s world, there is nothing more refreshing to work for and with women that totally rock it and teach you how to grow.
It sounds corny, but you really do create lasting friendships through Girl Scouts
Funny story. At my office, I sit across from my Girl Scout camp counselor from when I was 15. She and I have been friends since I was 18 and through a series of coincidences, we are now co-workers.
The friends that I have made at Girl Scout camp, I not only talk to and see regularly, but have traveled the world with some. We have celebrated holidays and a wedding together, and offer continuous support to each other even if we are hundreds of miles apart. And while you shouldn’t go to Girl Scout camp to solely find love, I did meet my now boyfriend (*male staff were allowed to work at the camp in maintenance positions, he was a pot scrubber for his first years on staff*) of six years there; further proving the point that lifelong friendships and relationships are formed through Girl Scouts.
Girl Scouts is great for that awful thing called Networking
I hateeee networking. It is the worst. THE WORST. I’m not suggesting that Girl Scouts is solely for connections, however you do share a fantastic connection with successful women. Do you know who was a Girl Scout? The CEO of Youtube, Susan Wojcicki. Did you know that 90% of female astronauts were in Girl Scouts? I think know it has something to do with that quality program and research point I made above. I put it on my resume and absolutely bring it up at terrible career events because I am proud to be apart of Girl Scouts and to meet possible alumnae. You never know who has been a Girl Scout or at the very least has helped one out by eating our cookies or raising one!
Not only do former Girl Scouts shoot for the stars career wise, but so do your Girl Scout friends. We look out for each other, not just in job networking, but in apartment hunting, doctor searching. and even in last minute couch crashes.
You do learn skills that surprisingly stick with you (in more ways then one)
Lol, how do you think I got here? My first overnight hiking trip on the AT was through Girl Scouts. I learned everything I know from Girl Scout cam, like how to eat on the trail to even packing a pack correctly. I overcame fears of outdoor cooking and eventually was able to teach girls and future counselors how to build fires (though who knows, I was pretty bad at fire building). Deep cut–Being 13, and seeing the sunrise at the top of this tiny NJ hill on the AT really sparked a love in hiking that has helped me get to where I am today and has inspired me to hike more actual mountains.
All my water skills, like canoeing, kayaking, and sailing, I learned at Girl Scout camp I experienced amazing opportunities that I know I would never be able to do on my own. I canoed 70 miles down the Delaware when I was 15 with 11 other Girl Scouts and 3 counselors. I ended up co-leading a tiny trip similarly when I was 18. Full circle, I now own a kayak and am doing an overnight trip this summer!
All of the skills I learned through Girl Scouts have not only stuck with me, but have allowed me to give back through teaching as well.
These are just a few of the many reasons why I love Girl Scouts. I could go on too. I wrote this because I am passionate about an organization that has made a huge dent on my life and if I had to take a guess, the lives of many others too. Why Girl Scouts? Because we are an awesome organization that strives for the success of girls.
Need more convincing or want to bask in the glow of girl leadership? Watch the 60 second video below!
lifeonaquin.com 