I spent five years on sabbatical from Girl Scout volunteering. Guess I needed to cure my wanderlust when I retired, and I didn't want to commit to be in town for very long at all. Then last year I decided to try my hand at being a Gold Award Advisor.
The process hasn't changed much since Troop 2010 members worked on their Gold projects, just the names of programs. I have a job descripton, but I am not in charge of making anything happen. I wait to be contacted by girls in high school who are ready to start their Gold award. It's like the Eagle award, but bigger and better, I think.
So many reasons to do this:
- To believe in the future
- To mentor girls who WILL be making a difference right now and for the rest of their lives
- To smile, laugh, and dream with girls on the verge of womanhood and life
After a few months of hem-hawing about when to take the plunge, I got a Google phone number. I chose an email to use just for Gold award business. I finally put my name on the list. And nothing happened for a while.
Then one night while I was watching TV reading my iphone messages I opened one from a stranger.
My first gold award candidate.
What a keeper she is. Mature. Polite. Social skills. Passionate about her cause. A true joy to work with. I think the universe is rewarding me in advance for all the girls to come who might not be so mature, and that's a good thing for someone getting back in the saddle again.
Here's a link to her blog. Enjoy!
http://ontheroadtogold.blogspot.com/
PS Yes, technology is a wondrous thing. Before we met, she googled me.