March 12, 2013 is Girl Scout Day! On this exact day back in 1912, the first Girl Scout meeting ever was held with a group of eighteen girls in Savannah, Georgia. Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low assembled this group of girls because she believed that all girls should have the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. Low organized service projects outdoor adventures, and enrichment programs to get girls out of the house and into the community to provide a helping hand! The mission statement of the organization is, “Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” Over 3.2 million girls and adults are active Girl Scout members and over 50 million are Girl Scout Alumnae. Now aren’t those some impressive numbers!
Being involved in Girl Scouts is something that can provide young women with many transferable skills to enhance their professional development. Some of these things include the girls gaining an understanding of themselves, their values, their knowledge and skills to explore the world, all of these things extremely important for future careers. Some other important things they discover are their development of critical thinking in real life situations and how to deal with various challenges they will face throughout life. The connections the girls make and the relationships they build are amazing! Healthy relationships then promote the girls to effectively cooperate with people and work well in teams. The biggest thing these girls gain is a sense of empowerment along with leadership. They become empowered to make the world a better place and gain the necessary skills of a leader in order to do so.
Girl Scouts isn’t just all about the wonderful cookies we all know and love to purchase every year when they start selling them, or about the uniforms the girls wear with the hundreds of different patches on them that we stare at in awe because we aren’t familiar with what they’re for. The organization is about girls becoming women and having the guidance and role models to hopefully become ones who will make a difference, even if it’s just a small one. Take Girl Scout Day, March 12th, 2013 as a day to recognize and appreciate all that the girls in the Girl Scout organization do for their local communities all around the world!
Sources:
http://www.punchbowl.com/holidays/girl-scout-day
http://www.girlscoutsindiana.org/Default.aspx?cid=ProgramOutcomes
Posted by Carly Larson, Career Services Assistant