My name is Caroline Smith and for pretty much my whole life, I've strongly identified myself with Girl Scouts. I joined the organization as a Daisy at five-years-old, and despite moving out of state twice and having one of my four troops disband, I never stopped being a Girl Scout.  I'm a Silver and Gold Award Recipient and have lifetime membership to the organization. 

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In 2010 when I was starting seventh grade, my family moved to a rural town in Connecticut. I often consider how different my life would have been had my family moved to anywhere else because that was when I became a member of troop 65220, the reason I care enough about Girl Scouting to start this blog.

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Troop 65220 was a multi-level troop with girls in middle and high school, run by a woman and her husband who had a daughter in Scouting, 25 years ago. This troop was like nothing I had ever experienced before because there were older troop members and over two decades of alumnae to look up to. We also did crazy camping adventures and trips to the other side of the country, things I didn't even think were possible with my former troops. Girl Scouts was a place where I could try new things and fail without judgement. It was a place where I excelled because of the love and support from my sisters.

 

When I graduated from high school my troop disbanded. Partially because of my leaders' decisions to retire and partially because of the declining interest in Girl Scouting. This blog is meant to highlight what Girl Scouts means to me and to current scouts and to show what it's like from  underneath the sash.