I started in Girl Scouts as a Brownie and continued until I was a Cadette (age 14 – when my troop disbanded and there weren’t alternatives). Girl Scouts complemented the lessons that my parents were teaching me about self-confidence, self-resourcefulness and self-reliance. I also learned to sell through the cookie program which benefited me immensely in my professional career as a consultant, including the all-important how to deal with rejection. The lessons I learned through Girl Scouts were important in helping me get through engineering school – the third year that the University of Virginia admitted women. Those lessons sustained me to where I am today – writing women back into history – not, as some would say revising history – but restoring the narrative of the half of the population the world over whose stories are not captured in written history. I have learned that anyone can do it – the keys are passion, determination, and persistence. I hope that girls and women can continue to learn leadership skills through the Girl Scout community. We need strong women leaders in the future.
