I became a Girl Scout when I was five years old, not only for the experience but as an additional source of social interactions, I am now currently one year away from obtaining adult status. I will admit, in the beginning it was so overwhelming. I look back now at those tiny five year old's, so scared and nervous, and just want to tell them that it does get easier! Our first meeting was so quiet, only the moms and the troop leaders were talking. Five little girls in blue smocks just looking at one another, not knowing what to say or where to even start. Throughout my 13 years as a Troop #10879 Girl Scout in the San Jacinto Council, I have earned my bronze and silver awards and have been a Cookie CEO on many occasions I have helped my troop to coordinate badge workshops for younger girls as well as mentoring to new girls that may struggle to find a place to fit in. We did our bronze award as a troop, by hosting an all-day workshop for our younger sister troops. “Girl Scouts have S’more fun” was our first large scale workshop, we had several weekend camp planning sessions and prepared all the stations ourselves. It was a completely girl lead workshop with parents only helping where adult certifications were required. We were able to highlight basic first aid, archery, campfire cooking and safety, craft stations and canoeing. My Silver Award was challenging in a different way than the bronze award, generating the idea and how to execute it all alone was a real growing experience for me. My grandparents live in very small coastal community near the Lake Jackson Campus. I have spent many summers on the San Bernard River, fishing in local tournaments and been part of the family cook off team. When it came time to focus on the community impact of my silver award project, I knew exactly who I wanted to highlight. River’s End Volunteer Fire Department has two stations and are the hosts of the annual fishing tournaments and BBQ cookoff. My goal was to build a recycling station to keep at the fire department not just for neighborhood use but also during community events. I was able to source of the materials through recycling used pallets and with the help of my parents and grandparents we were able to build a sustainable recycling bin to display at the fire station, we added wheels so the Chief Al can roll it inside the station during storms. I enjoy being a Girl Scout because it allows me to work with younger girls and to help empower them to be their very best. As my time as Girl Scout comes to an end in the next few months, I have been looking back at all our adventures together. We have camped, traveled, mentored, trained, sold cookies, and fall products and made lifelong connections. We are all eighteen now and are the same girls in some ways that we were at five, we are just looking at the next steps in life and our education. I do not think I can fully articulate or express what this journey has meant to me but I will leave you with this; I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.