Occasionally, I meet a
volunteer, and I'm left with the impression that it is all about the
leader. Twice in the past 3
days I have had an encounter with an adult who was a Girl Scout during her
entire school career. In
both instances, these individuals said they would not have stayed involved, had
it not been for that special adult who served as their leader. They had a relationship with the
adult, who was a role model for them. And, in some instances, they pursued their career
because of the influence of this adult role model.
It is important to remember, children imitate what we
do. Having worked with
college students for 30 years, I sometimes don't realize my vocabulary might
not be what some of the girls can relate to and understand. Or worse, sometimes they
understand more of what is going on around them than we realize. I heard of an incident last week
where the adult volunteers had some differences of opinions. This happens with all of us, but
it isn't something we need to involve the girls in. I do this job because I believe I am laying a
foundation for the future. I believe we are building future responsible
citizens who will give back and be contributing members of society. I do this because I believe what
I do is, in a small way, an investment in the health and happiness of
others.
Why do you do it?
You can’t learn to ride a bike unless you actually have a bike. Similarly, you can’t make a point without examples. Most people online are looking for "show me" rather than some out of the blue, unbacked information (or claim). I consider blog entries such as this one a souvenir, something you can take home and use it in a real conversation or small talk even.
In this particular case I try to resolve opinion conflicts away from the audience. Not because I want to keep it under the hood but in order to protect the children from intepreting human interactions out of context. Adults don't deal in absolutes so a disagreement does not actually mean 'you are not my friend anymore'.