What do soccer, violin, karate, and scrap-booking all have in common?
All are activities that my parents relentlessly tried to get me interested in. Nothing would or could stick with me, until my mom forced me to go to a girl scout meeting in first grade. Once the sobbing subsided, I started to pay attention to what the troop leader was telling me and my peers. She told us that scouting was not merely to bond with friends, but to create a better community and to be the best person I could be. Being only 6-years-old, this was rather complicated concept for me to grasp, but over the last few years, scouting has had an incredible impact on me.
My major accomplishment for my girl scouting career occurred over the past summer. It was a project for my gold award and I put a tremendous amount of effort into planning and organizing a cooking camp for kids at an assisted living home in Danville. The week-long camp helped me realize one of my passions was working with kids, and also teaching people (both young and old) important skills, such as communicating with different generations, and healthy cooking tips.
I also have put in countless amounts of hours for the bronze and silver awards, that younger girl scouts can earn. I was directed by my troop leader to help the already existing organization, Blue Star Moms. The work to be done for this organization was amazing. To see the amount of time and effort the parents contributed made me want to make a bigger impact as well. I wrote hundreds of cards to be sent in care packages, taped countless boxes to be sent overseas, and even raised money to send these packages.
I learned (and I still am learning) so much from all the connections created in Girl Scouts, but I believe the most important part of scouting is helping the community, which as a result helps the world and helped me become a better person. Although there are countless opportunities to be obtained from scouting, you do not need to be a scout to make a change, any one can make even the slightest difference!
I am 17 years old and I go to Monte Vista High School. With this blog I hope to spread the word about girl scouting and help the community become a better place.
