Lauren JosephIn elementary school, or what some call junior high, being a Girl Scout was most definitely the most ‘un-cool’ thing to do. Guess what? I decided to do it anyway. Making that choice was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
My mom had tried to get me involved in scouts for years but no one had room for just one more person. In fifth grade I finally joined a troop that met just down the street from my house. I don’t remember going on any trips, just sitting in the troop leader’s basement doing crafts. Being a part of that troop lasted just one year, possibly in part that it was the time to become an official part of junior high and no one wanted to be a part of it anymore.
Luckily there was a troop in the next town that was welcoming new members. I remember being absolutely terrified because there were not only new people, but new people from a different town.
Continuing on into that troop, I never had an idea of what was soon to come. Being a scout through the end of junior high and high school was the greatest, even though everyone else didn’t think it was. That was until they found out all of the opportunities I had. Being a Girl Scout allowed me to travel to Michigan in eighth grade, to Ohio when I was a freshman and to Maine the next summer to spend 10-days living on a sailboat. I made anywhere from 12-50 friends on each trip and got to spend close to two weeks away from my parents.
I don’t know many other eighth graders who were able to get on a plane, alone, and have the opportunities I did. Who wouldn’t have a fun time standing in a cold room in the middle of an incredibly hot summer… while playing with penguins?
I spent eight years camping (yes, with no hair dryers or any other girl-essentials), skiing and snowboarding, filling Oreos with toothpaste and flipping tables during all-out wars, eating (some of the best food anyone could have), whitewater rafting, selling cookies (while eating more than my fair share) and expanding my knowledge while filling my vest with patches with cheerleaders, sports stars, honor students, those who needed life-saving words, some from troubled families and all of them being the greatest friends anyone could ask for.
Not only did I make memories to last a lifetime but learned more about my community and most importantly, myself. I had the opportunity to travel, to be an assistant leader of a Daisy, then Brownie troop, to reach out to people in my community who were often forgotten about, to earn one the most prestigious awards-the Girl Scout Gold Award, to join an Explorer Crew that traveled to Philmont, New Mexico to hike 72 miles in 10 days throughout one of America’s most beautiful landscapes (and to be going again for the second time this summer), to have amazing job opportunities, to have tons of younger girls looking up to me and to make the two most amazing friends anyone could ever ask for.
So, if you still think that being a Girl Scout means being a dork- go ahead… since that will be assuming that Venus Williams, track star “Flo-Jo,” Katie Couric, Bonnie Blair and hundreds of other famous faces are dorks too. I never let it bother me back in eighth grade and there isn’t a chance it will now. Girl Scouts has given me the real, real world knowledge no school could ever completely achieve. I know that I have fulfilled the Girl Scout motto to “be prepared,” because I most definitely feel prepared for what is to come. And I am fairly confident that I too, will be one of many angels in green.
Posted to the web by Lauren Joseph
