From a young age, I have been involved in scouts. I was in Girl Scouts as a Daisy while in Kindergarten and saw it through until I aged out as an adult. I participated in summer camp, helped start new Daisy troops every year, volunteered to help younger troops and got my mother back into Girl Scouts working as our council's historian.

My younger brother was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, as well as my father. Like many Girl Scouts, I had an amazing experience: horseback riding, learning first aid, camping, rock climbing and having sleepovers at the cabin.

But, like many Girl Scouts, I saw my troop dwindle away once I got into middle school. By the time I got into high school, I was the only one in my troop: a Juliette. That was when my assistant Scoutmaster father introduced me to the Boy Scout Venturing program: the co-ed scouting program that saved my life. I was back to rock climbing, camping, canoeing, scuba diving and even shooting for the first time! I have had some amazing opportunities in Venturing, like being one of the first girls to attend the Boy Scout National Jamboree, leading a crew in a Northern Tier winter trek, attending NAYLE at Northern Tier, staffing OKPIK and becoming Senior Patrol Leader of my council's NYLT program.

However, it has also been a rocky road filled with skepticism. Not all my experiences in Venturing have been totally positive; not everyone is on-board with young women being included in Boy Scouts. I hope to discuss some of these triumphs and road blocks in "10 Things You Know if You're a Girl in Boy Scouts."

10. The buddy system sucks for girls.

My train of thought:

You can't go anywhere without a buddy. It makes sense.

However, according to youth protection, a girl and a guy can never be alone together. Also makes sense.

National's solution? Truddy system. What's a truddy? Basically, now I have to wait for TWO guys to take me wherever I need to go. Which sucks. (It also makes no sense, because if something was going to happen to me in the woods with a boy, sending another boy is much safer. I'm being sarcastic.)

Having more girls in the program should fix the problem, right?

Wrong. Youth protection complicates it even further. Because I'm over 18, I'm legally an adult and am considered an adult in the eyes of Boy and Girl Scouts. However, since Venturing includes ages 14-21, I'm a Venturing Youth. I can't be alone with any adult one-on-one because I'm a youth, but I can't be alone with any youth one-on-one because I'm an adult. I can't have a 22-year-old female buddy or a 17-year-old female buddy. As the only 18-21 year old female in my NYLT program this year, I'm screwed.

9. Youth protection tends to be one-sided.

I just went through youth protection, again, for National Youth Leadership Training. I love youth protection. It protects youth and adults alike from sexual harassment and aims to give scouts the tools to help someone who is a victim of rape or a suicide attempt. It's a serious night, and I understand it's necessary. This year, I noticed something in Youth Protection I never noticed before: it's totally sexist and one-sided.

In all of the discussion about sexual harassment and rape, it's always about making sure guys aren't 'preying' on girls. Guys can prey on guys, girls can prey on guys...hell, girls can prey on girls. It can very quickly turn into a "I know what it's like to be a 17-year-old boy" or a "keep it in your pants" talk. It helps none of the females in the room and turns us into victims. Not to mention that there's still a total disregard for anyone that's not heterosexual, even though it's accepted openly in Boy Scouts now.

8. Venturing awards SUCK in comparison to Boy scout awards.

Once upon a time we had a bronze, gold and silver award system in Venturing and we had our own oath (which I'm actually glad they got rid of). National wanted to make Venturing more like Boy Scouts, which was great!...Except we get none of the perks. You can get an award in Venturing just for planning your first camp out. It's like giving gold stars to kindergartners for turning in their homework, while the other class gets awards based on achievement and skill.

It's insulting that we are expected to work less than the Boy Scouts, and that when it comes down to it, we can't earn the prestigious Eagle award. I once talked to a Boy Scout about the Girl Scout Gold award (the Eagle equivalent) and he proceeded to tell me it's not as good as the Eagle, even though it's just as much work. "It's just...the Eagle. There's an honor with it." So...because it's a Boy Scout award it suddenly holds more honor and is better...but I can't get it. Other Venturing Scouts feel my pain.

7. There's always confusion as to whether or not I'm an adult.

I got into the awkward situation, thanks to the age differences in Boy Scouts and Venturing, where, in order to sign up for Wood Badge (an adult leadership course) I would have to register with a troop and hope they accept me as an adult -- because I'm over 18. I'm a Venturing Youth, but must go to my brother's troop and hope to be an assistant scoutmaster in order to take a course, because I can't be a Venturing adviser. It's not so bad for me because I know my brother's troop pretty well, but if you are a Venturing female youth that doesn't have troop connections, this could be extremely frustrating.

6. There is still inequality.

Every once in a while in Boy Scouts I see things and think: "Ehhhh that's kinda sexist". For instance, at the National Jamboree it was well over 95 degrees with insane humidity in West Virginia, so, naturally, many boys removed their shirts. However, many of my female friends and I were left sweating to death in our cotton t-shirts that our council had made us -- we were not allowed to remove them.

Or perhaps, every time we go swimming in Boy Scouts, we have to wear bathing suits that cover our stomachs...the boys don't have to wear shirts in the pool...it's not like I'm naked, I'm covering my breasts. That goes back to the whole point: If you're afraid of boys sexualizing me, I have to cover up; why aren't you afraid of me sexualizing the boys and making them wear shirts? Works both ways, guys.

5. Uniforms kinda suck, too.

This mostly applies before National made some slight changes to the uniforms, but is still applicable. After spending money on scouting pants that had Velcro to shut them and mesh inside (so if I had hips bigger than a ten year old boy's my pockets would open and you could see my underwear through the mesh) National finally made better pockets -- still including mesh.

Uniforms are expensive; I'll just get my pants at Bass Pro shop. On the other hand, Venturing Crews are allowed to assign their own uniforms, meaning some scouts have to go out and buy several "official" Venturing uniforms before coming to any council or national training. Why don't you just make uniforms mandatory, like in Boy Scouts? Finally, I just hate tucking in my shirt with a fiery passion. I've never had to do it in my whole life until now. It's super uncomfortable.

4. Every male friend is a possible boyfriend in the adults' eyes.

It sucks, but it's true. I've seen this time and time again. A guy and a girl talking and the scoutmaster leans over asking: "Are they a thing?"

No. No, they're not. A guy and a girl are really close at camp? We have to do everything in our power to split them up and ruin their friendship or they'll "make purple in the woods" (Boys are blue, girls are red, put 'em together, what do you get?). A girl is surrounded by boys? She's a flirt. We have to watch out for her. We have to protect her.

I'm so utterly tired at this point of not being able to be myself and be friends with guys in Boy Scouts. I just have more male friends than female -- I always have. I'm not a flirt. I'm not easy. They're not going to prey on me. Nothing is going to happen in the woods. And honestly, even if I did like a boy, I have enough restraint to wait until after camp to give him my number, thank you.

But thanks for automatically assuming neither of us follow the scout law.

3. There are still sexist men in Boy Scouting.

This is another one that I have unfortunately seen too often in Venturing. I once had an adult ask if I could do something, condescendingly, calling my friends and I out as "girls." My response: "I've been doing everything your boys have been doing all weekend and I've done it without chipping my nails."

There are still many scout leaders, many of whom are older men, that are uncomfortable with young women in Boy Scouts. I've heard men say "that's what Girl Scouts is for" when discussing women in Venturing. Excuse me?

In an ideal world, we would only have Venturing. Co-ed Scouts where boys and girls can achieve the Eagle, attend NYLT, receive equal scholarship opportunities, etc. I often tell people "I'm only in Boy Scouts because of Girl Scouts. Both programs have flaws, and in a perfect world they would come together and make the ideal scouting program."

If only we could take the Girl Scouts' liberal, progressive approach and apply it to the Boy Scouts' traditionalism, hierarchy system, award system and training. Any girl who has gone from a good Girl Scout troop into Venturing has experienced this.

2. The Order of the Arrow is a "boy's club."

Yep, I went there. The O.A. is an honors society for the best of the best of Boy Scouts, every great boy's dream. Some argue that my complaint isn't valid because females can join as adults. That's not the point.

One: if you understand Boy Scouts, you understand that nothing is the same as a leader versus as a youth because it's youth-led.

Two: if you know anything about the requirements to get into the O.A. you would know that I'd have to sign up as an adult with a troop and get a whole new set of experiences before I could even be nominated. I have to have a certain amount of camping experiences with the troop. It's almost like they punish you for being in Venturing. None of your experiences matter -- only the ones you make with the boys matter.

When National was asked why youth females were not allowed in the O.A., the answer, they replied, was simple: it's a Boy Scout honors society. If Venturing wants one, they can make their own. This turns into a slippery slope where they're punishing us for being...female.

I can't be in O.A. because I'm not in Boy Scouts. I'm not in Boy Scouts because I'm not a boy. I've even had boys tell me it would ruin "the brotherhood" and "distract the boys." This quickly turns into the same argument as to why I should be able to wear whatever I want to school. If they boys are so easily distracted by the fact that I'm female, perhaps you should reevaluate how well they're following the scout oath and law.

1.Your female friends mean everything to you.

Ending on a positive note, one of the best things that every girl in Boy Scouts knows is that the female friends you make are ones you cherish. It is so rare that you find someone else who has the same passion for getting dirty and hiking 35 miles or careening down whitewater rapids in a cheesy uniform, but that this person also enjoys painting nails and watching "Dirty Dancing" with you outside of scouts. These girls are your sisters. They know the pain of getting your period in the middle of a camping trip, having to wear "scout appropriate" bathing suits and even getting a shower house to yourselves at camp (because there are so few girls). They become your tent partner, your buddy and your friend.

Lord knows I have my few scouting girlfriends, the girls I only see at the Venturing Blast or at Crew meetings on Mondays, but I have also met some of my best girlfriends this way. After all, you can't share a tent and a shower for a week and not become best friends.