Teen Explores the World Through Girl Scouts

Natalie R., 15, does a lot of things that most girls her age do. She has dreams about the future (she wants to be a police officer). She loves to play soccer. She comes from a military family and has moved around a lot. She’s had to learn to make new friends, so being active in school has helped her break out of her shell. She likes rock climbing, and wants to learn to repel down waterfalls.

The one thing that makes her different from some of her peers is her involvement with the Girl Scouts. Natalie has been active in Girl Scouting since she was five! But now that she’s a teenager, she’s noticed that a lot of her non-Girl Scout peers are confused when she tells them she’s a Girl Scout.

“Many people are used to seeing young girls in advertisements and on cookie boxes, and that’s what they associate with Girl Scouts,” she says. “So when I tell them I’m one, they always ask, ‘Aren’t you too old?’”

One way she’s trying to change that impression is through her involvement with Girl Scouts of the USA’s Leadership Lanes girl advisory board. Natalie is part of a team of 15 girls from across the country chosen to serve as consultants to national board members and Girl Scout staff members. Natalie will work with Girl Scout staff to come up with ideas that appeal to older girls, and help get the word out that everyone can be a Girl Scout!

She also wants to help people understand what Girl Scouting is all about. Natalie thinks people often assume it’s only about cookies, and she wants to share stories about all the cool things she’s done as a Girl Scout - including selling cookies - and who she has become as a result.

“When you are with other Girl Scouts, no one judges you,” she says. “Instead, you become aware of different cultures and ways of thinking. It helps you understand where other people are coming from.”

One of the biggest ways Natalie reached this understanding was through her destinations trips. She has been to Georgia and Minnesota, where she went dog sledding for a week, and this summer she’ll get her chance to repel down waterfalls in California. Through destinations, Natalie has become friends with girls from all over the country who share her love of adventure and teamwork. She also learned that everyone has different views about the world, based on their own life experiences, and she loves hearing what those views are.

“We’ve had to move around a lot, being a military family, and when I moved to Washington, it helped to join Girl Scouts,” she says. “You always have a place to go.”

With Girl Scouts, you also have a place to learn, develop self-confidence and take action on the things that matter to you. For Natalie R. and the 26,000 Girl Scouts across Western Washington, that has made a world of difference.

Want to learn more about destinations and how you can repel down waterfalls
or go dogsledding like Natalie? Read all about Girl Scout travel opportunities,
then sign up through Girl Scouts of Western Washington!