Stepping Out, Making Friends

by Sophia

When my mom asked me if I wanted to go to a Girl Scout meeting, I was pretty skeptical. Even though I wasn’t entirely sure what Girl Scouts did besides cookie selling, I felt like I wouldn’t be interested, and that my Sunday afternoon would just be wasted. Reading this now, you can probably guess that I was very, very wrong.

That happened last January. When I first walked into Georgia’s house, I instantly recognized several friends from elementary school—friends I didn’t see very often anymore. Chloe, Peyton, Hanora, Ruby, Georgia, Zoe, and (even though we didn’t go to school together) Lily. Four girls, I had never met: Frankie, Olivia, Naya, and Amanda. Seeing these people laugh and talk, and have a group working towards a common purpose gave me two main thoughts:

This looks fun, happy, and light—not at all as serious as I suspected.

I want to join right now.

I’m a big believer in lucky numbers. I have several “middle” lucky numbers (6, 8, 4, 9, 14, 22, 25, and 28) but my main lucky number has always been 12. I was 12 years old when my favourite book came out. 2012 was when my cousin got married and I got to be a flower girl at the best wedding ever. My favourite episode of my favourite TV show was the 12th in the season, and came out on February 12, 2012. I counted 11 girls in Troop 3225 and realized that, if I joined, I would be the twelfth member. And when you add 3+2+2+5 (Troop 3225), it equals 12. I took it as a sign.

When I announced that I wanted to join, I got a round of applause. I felt flustered, because a) I don’t like being the center of attention, and b) I thought that the people who really deserved the cheers were all the troop members that showed me the joy of Girl Scouting. I was delighted when I got my binder and vest, and everyone made it easy being the “new girl” in the troop.

Now it’s May, and I’ve never regretted my decision. Being a Girl Scout has helped me in many ways. It’s helped me meet new people and reconnect with old friends.

I got to meet Frankie’s alter ego, Bernardo, and watch her spell her name many different ways.

I got to work a few cookie booths with Olivia, and watch a helicopter land and take off nearby.

Amanda unknowingly inspired me to run for Student Council after earning her Silver Torch Award. Before listening to her presentation, I had been uninterested in running whenever the teachers brought it up. There was no way I was making a speech in front of the whole school—I hate public speaking. But somehow hearing about Amanda being on Student Council at her school got me thinking about how I could do that too.

I ran for Student Activities Coordinator against three other people, one of them being my best friend, Violet Hill. I had a feeling she would win the whole time, and you know what? She did. I was terrified the entire time I read my speech, and when I sat back down I tried not to pass out. But people kept saying my speech was good, and that was a great reward for me. Violet’s and my BFF Afton won the Publicist position, and I knew that Violet and Afton were super-pumped about being on Student Council together. I was really happy for them and refused to let myself feel sad. Because in the end, I grew closer to my good friend and that was all I needed. Until one of the teachers told us about four more Student Council positions—teacher-chosen ones. I decided I wanted to be one of the two CJSF (California Junior Scholarship Foundation) Representatives. I decided to talk to the person who chose the two representatives, Sra. Monroy.

Normally, I would have been freaked out about talking to a teacher outside of class (even though Sra. Monroy is super nice, I’m just shy), but I told myself that, after making a speech to the WHOLE SCHOOL, I could deal with one teacher. So, I talked to Sra. Monroy and she asked me if I was really, really interested in being a CJSF Representative, and I told her I was. She let me know that I was on her list, and during class (on the same day!) she pulled me and a girl who had run for President but lost, Maddy, into the hall to tell us that we’ d been chosen as the CJSF Representatives. I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. I’m now on Student Council with many good friends. If I hadn’t spoken to Sra. Monroy, I probably wouldn’t have been chosen, and if I hadn’t made a speech in front of the whole school, I wouldn’t have had the courage to talk to Sra. Monroy, and if I hadn’t run for Student Council, I wouldn’t have made the speech. I wouldn’t have run for Student Council if Amanda’s presentation didn’t inspire me, and I wouldn’t have even met Amanda if I hadn’t joined Girl Scouts. Also, a side note: There were 8 Student Council positions that you could run for and 4 you could be chosen for. 8+4=12.

Life is like a large pond full of ripples, and you don’t know what ripples are going to come from what choices you make.

If I hadn’t taken a little risk and joined Girl Scouts, I wouldn’t have kissed rocks and played Uno with Frankie in Joshua Tree. I wouldn’t have returned grocery carts while cookie-boothing with Olivia, or made pizza and eaten cookies with Naya, or made paper from blue pulp with Zoe. I wouldn’t have gotten squirted by a hot tub with Chloe or thrown lemons between trees with Hanora. I wouldn’t have obsessively played a water-hoop-ring game in a museum gift shop too early in the morning with Georgia, and I most definitely wouldn’t have slept on a hard museum floor in a too-small sleeping bag being woken up by boys with flashlights and a clingy 6-year-old in a Pikachu onesie (that was a ripple I would have been willing to avoid). Joining Girl Scouts has really given my life more fun memories and potential, and I’d choose to be in this troop a thousand times over. It may not always seem easy to do something you aren’t familiar with, especially if it involves being around people you don’t know. But I’ve learned that taking risks to make new friends can bring huge rewards.