Wednesday, April 10, 2002
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Wednesday, April 10, 2002 |
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Beyond Brownies, Senior Girl Scouting offers challenges Aren't you too old to be a Girl Scout? Although some people may think that Girl Scouting stops in elementary school, troop 368, a Senior troop composed of 15- to 17-year-old high school students, proves that Girl Scouting reaches beyond many peoples' expectations. Girl Scouts may have started out as Daisies and Brownies being taught to make cute crafts, but now as Seniors we are the leaders teaching others. We develop valuable leadership skills as we conduct day camps and plan activities for younger girls. Many girls drop out before the real fun begins: they don't know what they're missing. As girls progress to the Cadette and Senior levels of scouting, fun field trips and backyard camping give way to Wider Opportunity trips that can lead girls across American and around the world. Once a scout reaches the minimum age requirement usually 14 she becomes eligible to participate in such adventures as rock climbing, spelunking, whitewater rafting, and trips to other states and foreign countries. She may even find herself on the beautiful beaches of Hawaii just as Troop 368 did in August 2000. As time goes by, many girls find that their friends change; many of the girls in Troop 368, however, have known each other since grade school. We believe that Girl Scouting has kept us together as friends as well as helped us grow into responsible leaders of tomorrow. While working together, we learn essential skills like leadership, teamwork, cooperation, planning, and flexibility that will prove important in interaction with others and in our future careers. As the scouts take over leadership roles in the troop, they learn the qualities of a good leader as well as a bad one. In addition to management skills, we learn to serve others in scouts and our community. Service to others is the purpose of the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a scout can receive. The Gold Award, roughly equivalent to a Boy Scout Eagle, proves that a girl has the skill and devotion necessary to conceive, plan, arrange, execute, and report a complex project from start to finish. The project should benefit others and must take the scout a minimum of 50 hours to complete, though many take much longer. Despite the difficulty of earning a Gold Award, recipients always say it was worth it, since such an honor places the girl above her peers, makes her eligible for scholarships and grants, and gives her an advantage in applying for her career of choice. So stick with it, girls. Reach for your dreams: Girl Scouts can help you get there. Rebecca Ackman Girl Scout Troop 368
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