Thank you to our guest blogger, Twan Farmer, for her thoughts and Girl Scout story. Twan was also our first winner of our Facebook Giveaway 'Cookie Connection'! She is extremely passionate about Girl Scouts and was a long time member of Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa Western Illinois.
Interested in being one of our guest bloggers? Email us and tell us your story!
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| Twan Farmer (left) with camp counselors/friends |
When I was eleven years old I sat at the top of what seemed
like a huge cliff looking over the edge. Suddenly it didn't matter that I had a
harness on or that I had practiced this so many times before, it looked like I
was about to step off the edge of the earth. As I sat there thinking of every
bad thing that might happen if I slid those few feet to my left, I heard a
voice telling me, "It's okay, if you don't want to do it you don't have
to. We aren't going to make you do anything you don't feel comfortable with,
but we want you to know that if you decide to go we won't let anything happen
to you. And we wouldn't let you do anything you weren't ready for. It's
your choice but remember there is nothing we haven't prepared you for, nothing
you can't do if you try." It still took a few minutes after that, but
thanks to those words from my counselor and the encouragement of my fellow
campers, I went over the edge and rappelled down just like we had practiced at
camp. And it is because of those words and all the other lessons I learned
through Girl Scouts and Camp Conestoga that I’ve become the person I am today.
I am incredibly grateful to Girl Scouts
for making me feel prepared throughout my life. In high school I was getting a
ride home from a friend and we came out to a flat tire, no problem, I took a
car care workshop to earn my Auto Maintenance Interest Project Patch.
When I was looking for a college, I wasn’t nervous about
living in a dorm because I had gone to camp every year and I figured if I could
live in a tent with strangers I could handle a dorm room. I also ended up
choosing my college (Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA) because after
narrowing down my list of schools to two that had the program I wanted and
looked like places I would thrive, I saw that Agnes had a Campus Girl Scout
program and the choice was simple. When I was there, on my own for the first
time, halfway across the country from everyone I knew, I used the skills I had
learned at camp and on my Wider-Op to meet lots of different people. I managed
my money well because I learned those skills earning Try-Its and badges and
IPPs. And at the end of my first year I applied to be a Resident Advisor
figuring my CIT and counselor experience would serve me well. I was right and
found myself loving the first year dorms where I got to do lots of get-to-know
each other activities and help girls adjusting to life away from home for the
first time.
After college I moved all over trying different things, and
while each time was nerve-wracking I knew I would be okay because I had the
skills I needed to be successful in almost anything I tried. Even when I didn’t
know how to do something specific at a job or in general, I had the skills to
find the information I needed or to interact with the person I needed to ask. I
took the leadership skills I learned while earning my various Leadership Awards
and used them to be promoted at almost every job I’ve ever had. I have been a
Trainer at almost every job because I have shown that I not only know how to
excel at my position, but that I can try many and varied ways of teaching
skills in order to help others learn different things - all skills learned
throughout my time with Girl Scouts.
And while it has taken me a bit of time to decide what I
want to be when I grow up, I have never felt completely lost because I know
that I have numerous invaluable skills that I can use to get me through almost
ANY situation in life. I am currently using those skills to save money to get
my Masters in Library and Information Science, I plan to focus in Children’s
and Teen Services where I hope I can help lots of future Girl Scouts earn their
patches.
But the thing I am most grateful for from my time in Girl
Scouts is the feeling of family. I am an only child and both of my parents are
only children. I never knew what it was like to be surrounded by aunts and
uncles and cousins or siblings. But when I went to Girl Scout meetings or
workshops or Camp Conestoga, I understood what that meant. Even now, as an
adult, I find myself turning to my CIT counselor for advice (Hi Quibs!) or
messaging fellow counselors or Girl Scouts when I see something that reminds me
of one of our adventures. I keep up with almost all of my former CITs and feel
like a proud mama duck watching her ducklings become full-grown. I feel honored
to have played even a tiny role in their lives. The best thing is feeling so
unconditionally loved by all of the people I have encountered no matter how
long it has been since we’ve seen each other. I will never be able to thank
Girl Scouts enough for giving me such a huge worldwide family, but I will do my
best to give back to that family in any and every way I personally can for the
rest of my life because I wouldn’t be who I am today without them.
- Twan Farmer
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