the Girl Scouts

I can hear it now.  What in the hell is she writing about the Girl Scouts?...is this a blog about Girl Scout cookies??  Actually, I could write an entire blog about G.S. Cookies without a problem, maybe next time. :D

I spent the majority of my elementary and junior high years in the Girl Scouts.  Yes, me...I was a Girl Scout.  I was also a band geek, but that is another story entirely.  During my younger years, I was lucky enough to spend several weeks during the summer at Camp Wawbansee, which I am not 100% certain even exists anymore.  I looked forward to those weeks of the summer more than any basketball camp I ever attended.  It was a very rustic camp, full of pine trees, wide open spaces, trails for miles, and no air conditioning.  The living quarters were screened in cabins with spring loaded cots, and spiders in every corner.  It was a beautiful place.

I traded my Girl Scout uniform for a basketball uniform in 7th grade, but that was not the end of my  scouting career.  Around 1990, I returned to camp as I was hired on as a lifeguard for the summer.  It is important to remember that I was a pretty hardcore alcoholic at this age.  My first summer at camp, I made friends with the wrong people and almost lost my job because of it.  It was at this point in my life that I realized how much alcohol was already taking over, and how much I was in need of a positive role model in my life.

Insert role model here:  We were allowed one night off camp grounds each week.  One night as my "friends" and I returned to camp, we were greeted by the Camp Director, Kay.  Kay was a physical education instructor for special needs children, in addition to her job with the G.S. Counsel.  She cornered us on the stairs of the dining hall, and asked us if we had been drinking.  Although we had spent the evening drinking bottles of vodka and probably reeked of it, we all said no.  She then proceeded to tell us camp horror stories of counselors being injured, fired, and even sued for having alcohol in their system on camp grounds.  As we walked the long path back to our unit (the camp was divided into four units, each housing a different age group), the others were stumbling and laughing the whole way, but I actually felt horrible about what happened.  Something that had never happened to me sober or drunk...remorse, I think you call it.  I had let down the person that hired me, believed in me, and trusted me to take care of campers whether in the unit or at the pool and lake.

The following Sunday when we returned for a new week of camp, I made a change.  I traded out my partners in crime, and by doing so made several enemies, but got to know other counselors that were much more respected by the administration staff.  I also spent a lot more time getting to know Kay.  And by a lot...I worked for her for four additional summers.  Every summer I moved up the ranks and became the director of programing as well as the waterfront director.  I was also placed in charge of our summer trips to canoe the Buffalo River in Arkansas.  I grew up a lot in those five summers and truly learned what hard work and earning respect meant.

Kay was a strong woman, extremely confident, a great leader, and loved her job.  I aspired to be just like that.  So, I dumped out my bottles of vodka for the month and a half I spent at camp...ok, so I really just left them at home, but only drank on our 24 hour break on the weekends.  I had found my first female role model and because of her would continue to pursue my career with the Girl Scouts in Dallas as well as Pennsylvania.  Which, in turn, would lead me to meet another great Camp Director!