I became a Brownie Girl Scout in third grade, back when that was the youngest group in Girl Scouting. Since then Girl Scouting has been a major part of my life. My mother was not an outdoors person but I loved it, and Girl Scouts gave me the opportunity to camp, canoe, hike and generally be out in nature. I also had tremendous leadership opportunities as a girl and as an adult–from running a service unit Gift Fair in high school to being council president as an adult. I am now a 50 year+ lifetime member. In addition, I’ve held almost every volunteer role including leader, service unit positions, girl program developer, and my favorite–council trainer. The things I’ve learned have been applied in other volunteer organizations and in graduate school; it’s not unusual for me to begin a sentence with “in Girl Scouts, we did…..” I am the mother of two boys but now have two young granddaughters whom I would hope will become Girl Scouts. I love the way Girl Scouting has taken the lead in developing women for the future and really want that to continue.
