I was a Girl Scout growing up, and it honestly was one of the best experiences of my life thus far. It taught me many things, but here are five right off the bat.
Leadership opportunities
As with many organizations around a community, Girl Scouts offers various leadership opportunities from the lowest level (Daisy) to the highest level (Senior). You are able to help with younger girls if you are old enough, lead a cookie sale or cookie booth, or even lead your own troop when you graduate. Your voice will always be heard within your troop, but if you step up to the plate, you are able to let your voice be heard by other troops and leaders around the state or the country.
Money Management
As everyone knows, Girl Scouts have the best cookies in the world. They may be overpriced a bit, but if you sell enough, you have a lot of money to keep track of. There are other sales that Girl Scouts will hold throughout the year to raise money for camping or a group trip, but the cookie sale is more well-known. The easiest way to sell a lot of cookies is to let your parents take your form to work and let all their co-workers know that they have a Girl Scout cookie plug. However, the money is difficult to keep track of because people don't always give you the money right away and instead will give it to you when they receive their cookies. That makes you keep track of who has paid when they paid, how much they gave you, and who still owes you. There is a lot more to cookie sales than it seems.
Friendships
If you were a Girl Scout and your experience was anything like mine, you know that not all Girl Scouts are "weird" or "nerdy". My best friends throughout my childhood were in my troop and we all were pretty well off in high school. Many of us played sports or were in other clubs and I can tell you right now that we were not "weird" or "nerdy". If it weren't for my leader, my experience in Girl Scouts would not have been what it was. She was literally AWESOME, and she is my best friend's mom. Although not all things were taken seriously every time, she made sure we all were having fun while actually getting things done at the same time. I had a great time with all my friends being in my troop. Camping was always a riot with us all together under the same roof.
Travel Opportunities
I realize that not all troops may do this, but my troop leader made it possible for us girls to travel quite a bit. We have been to places as close as Columbus and southern Ohio. However, we have also traveled to Washington D.C. as young girls, New York City as freshmen in high school, and to the Bahamas on a cruise after our high school graduation. Our troop has gotten smaller as the years have gone on, but the trips became more and more fun. I had never been to some of those places before, so it was honestly so much fun that my troop leader cared about us that much to plan a big trip for multiple girls.
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES
I couldn't write about how great Girl Scouts is without including the #1 best cookie sale ever. Girl Scout cookies are ICONIC. Thin Mints are the best, don't @ me. There have been some flavors throughout the years that have come and gone, but the OG cookies are the best ones. I may be a little biased, but I literally love Girl Scout cookies so much. Disregarding the fact that they're like $4 per box. My 2nd all-time favorite altogether the Dulce-de-Leche cookies and THEY DON'T SELL THEM ANYMORE. Ask me how upset I am about it. There are some loopholes to getting cookies all times of the year instead of just February. Not necessarily for free but at a little cost, you can look up the recipe of your favorite cookie and waaalaaa!!
Girl Scouts is honestly more than selling cookies, and I hope by reading this, you now realize that not all Girl Scouts are "weird" and "nerdy." I have learned things from being in a troop that I probably would never have learned anywhere else.
