When we say “Girl Scouts” what do we mean?
Do we refer to the corporate entity, Girl Scouts USA? Do we mean the trefoil-bedazzled brand that appears on coffee creamers and dog cookies? Is Girl Scouts the property of our CEO, or our board of directors?
Or is Girl Scouting an idea? Is it the memories you have of your sun-burned camp days, crying at your last night campfire? Is it those moments stringing pony beads in a church basement, doing the friendship squeeze with the kids from your new school, feeling simultaneously shy and included? Was it something supportive a leader said to you, or a camp counselor? Is it “Linger”? “On the Loose”? “On my Honor”? Is Girl Scouting cookies, or is it something more than cookies? Is it the campout training you never knew your leader took before she taught you how to make walking tacos? Is it knowing precisely the right way to make s’mores? Is it learning that there’s a community bigger than ourselves — whether it’s the kids at our school who can’t afford school supplies, or the veterans at the local VFW, or the local homeless population? Is it our traditions, and how, for a century they have expanded, shifting over time to welcome in new friends (while keeping the old)?
Our national organization would have you believe one thing.
