A Girl Scout Reflection

By Christiane, a Chesapeake Girl Scout

As I embark on my journey to college, I love looking back on my time as a Girl Scout. I first began Girl Scouts in kindergarten as a cute, little Daisy and have made the full journey to becoming a Girl Scout Ambassador as a high school graduate. Many people tend to think that Girl Scouts is just doing arts and crafts, camping and selling those delicious cookies! Boy, are they good! However, this is not the big picture. Girl Scouts is about working with each other to accomplish a common goal, having fun while learning new skills and having each girl discover who she truly is! Most of all, Girl Scouts is about supporting your fellow sisters and helping them to make the world a better place. 

Being a Girl Scout has allowed me to be a part of adventures and experiences I never could have imagined. Girl Scouts has helped me to develop the confidence to lead, the determination to reach my goals, the perspective to view the world in new ways and the ability to learn from setbacks.

This past year, I revitalized the outdoor classroom at Yorktown Elementary School, completing my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. The purpose of the project was to restore the outdoor classroom because it was damaged and in a state of decline. I built benches to replace those that were damaged by misuse, built and planted a flower bed and constructed two interactive work stations. The setback I experienced during this project was a delay due to construction that was occurring around the school. However, as I worked with the school’s administration and used my communication and leadership skills, my team and I successfully completed the project! Honestly, it was difficult, but it is a great feeling to know that I helped make a difference, especially for the students at Yorktown Elementary School!

Through Girl Scouts, I also met some of my best friends! We are not only a troop of sisters, but truly a family. We had so many great laughs as we would stay up at night playing board games during camping trips or singing silly songs and making gooey smores around the campfire. Yum! We also got down to business to make a difference in the world, one Take Action project at a time. Some of my favorite experiences completed in scouting include volunteering with the Norfolk Emergency Shelter Team to help set up beds and make lunches for the homeless, learning an Indian dance and making curry for the Girl Scouts’ annual World Thinking Day and traveling to Orlando with my troop for our last trip together before we all part our ways for college.

Girl Scouts has shown me to be more encouraging, braver, stronger, a risk-taker and leader! I believe that every girl should be part of the scouting movement, and I am proud to say that I will always be a Girl Scout!