We Don't Just Sell Cookies.

Girl Scouts. I've been a GS since I was a kindergartener, excited about joining Daisies, looking forward to wearing the uniform and earning patches, badges, pins and awards. Sure, cookies sounded fun, and yummy, but I was looking forward to earning things more than the cookies.

So it's no surprise that I get peeved when someone asks me when I'm selling cookies condescendingly when I say I'm a Girl Scout. Like as if that's all we do, is sit around at meetings and plan our next cookie sale. We only sell cookies once or twice a year. You don't see Boy Scouts pestered about when their next Popcorn Sale is, so why abuse us Girl Scouts so?

In Girl Scouting there are a lot of great things done. Girls are taught about leadership, self confidence, and a variety of subjects ranging from math and science to art to fashion to health to horses. There is something for everyone to do. I learned the basics of horseback riding and how to make roses out of icing in the same Girl Scout level as a Junior at the same time I was learning First Aid. As a Cadette, in seventh grade, I planned, and ran a Halloween Bingo event for over 200 Girl Scouts with only my also seventh grade best friend and fellow troop member, which helped me earn the Girl Scout Silver Award, the second highest award possible for a Girl Scout to earn in 8th grade.

Girl Scouting helps in plenty of ways that are important in a girl's life when it comes to health and safety as well. GS designs programs to help girls with various problems they may face in life, from workshops on self defense and how to identify abusive relationships to sessions to teach about illnesses women are at risk for such as breast cancer. There are Interest Project Patches for older girs to earn for learning about self defense, rape prevention, etc. and even for younger girls, there are books availible about the basics for safety and dealing with strangers who are bothering you.

I wouldn't be the same person I am if I was not a Girl Scout. With Girl Scouting, I had someone to encourage me to think for myself, to be myself, and to do the things I love to do. While sometimes the lessons didn't stick, I still learned them, and had a place where they could stick, even if at school it was hard for them to. Girl Scouting has given me countless opportunities that I have taken, and even more that I didn't have time to take advantage of. I have earned the highest and second highest award (I will recieve my Gold Award in a few weeks after singlehandedly running a series of poetry workshops for kids, holding readings at a local daycare center and running two poetry blogs for a local library, a project which I sold my soul to last summer) and met people that have inspired me to be myself and the best I can be. I have learned plenty of lessons from Girl Scouting, and not many were about cookies.

So there, stereotypers, so there.