Girls in the Outdoors -- What we really want!

I am working to find out what older girls really want in outdoor programs.  I feel that GSUSA and GSCTX don’t really know what we want.

 This is part 1 of a 2 part Take Action Project I am putting together for my Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy  - Ambassador Journey.

 

Below is the link to a survey –  that I have put together to get as much current girl or even girls who left GS for another organization, data as possible for GSCTX.  PLEASE forward to as many girls ages 11-18 you know who are or were Girl Scouts.

 

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/10Z4X1d446ef105YIILJxqBeXzTqINZbF4sCnmcdLAls/viewform

 

The second part is a letter writing/email/video message campaign to GSUSA to move forward with an Outdoor series of journeys and more outdoor skills badges. – If you would like to be a part of the second phase let me know by emailing me – sarah@discovergreenyel.org

Bliss - Live it, Give It - #6

Adopted Dreamer

            I have chosen a member of the Girl Scout troop and with her I will help her to become, more confident in a group. I would also like to help her be able to express herself through something she enjoys, such as drawing.

            I am going to work on having her talk in a group, so she will build confidence. As well as have her lead a few projects, so she will build confidence in herself. Because if you don’t believe in yourself, it’s hard for others to believe in you.

            Having her draw out things that she has a passion for is another thing I want to work with her on. Have her draw things that make her happy, sad, and scared. Maybe even have her draw out a wish or a dream. Have her draw were she sees herself amongst the troop in a year, then, I can work with her to get there.

Bliss - Live it!, Give it! - Take Action

To take action with this journey - was 2 part:
1.  I worked with my adopted dreamer to help her find ways to express herself and to create her own works of art.

2.  I shared my dreams and my Girl Scout experiences with various Girl Scout troops and groups of girls.  I talked with a group of girls who were my age who were not sure they should stay in Girl Scouting - we talked about dreams and interests they had - I shared how Girl Scouts could help them do those things.  I also talked with a group of Junior Girl Scouts who attended a council event -- I talked about travel and my dream of traveling.  Through Girl Scout Destinations I am able to travel.   This summer I will be traveling to Iceland for 10 days.  And a second trip to Ireland.

Bliss - Live it, Give it - #10 - Celebrate

            When I finished the last edit of the novel, I felt great! I had finally finished a book, from beginning to end, with a plot and characters and everything. I had always created scenes, but never had I created a 12 chapter novel.

            And now that it is finished I have two places of which I will post it so that other people around the world can read it. Wattpad.com and TeenInk.com, both of these websites I have posted poetry, but now I have a story to post and I’m excited. And what will be really rewarding is getting to see what people say about it, and if they vote for it, and rate it.

            I also plan on sending it to a few friends, to see if they can give me feedback on the story, see if there are things I can add, take out or change. Because a story can never be perfect, there will always be things that can change.

            What this journey has taught me is that, if you work hard enough on a dream, it can happen, but a star won’t get you there, you do.

Bliss - Live It, Give It - #9 - Moving Dreams Forward

            My dream was to finish a book and I did, but I didn’t just, sit down and write it. I did everything from the brainstorm to the outline, the rough draft and the editing. And the thing that helped me find the way to the last page of my novel was the Map.

            The Map was a book that had questions everywhere from, who’s your hero? to what is his/her positive ideal? These questions helped me to create a plot, create the characters and to create the emotion. The Map had me answer questions and write scene that would go into my book, but with exceptions like “only use an adjective every 100 words” or “do not use and adverbs”.

            It had everything, and it taught me and showed me the way to the very last word of my book. 

Bliss - Live It, Give It -- 7 & 8 -- Adopted Dreamer

             I chose my Girl Scout and she agreed that I could help her. The first two weeks I worked with her on expressing herself through other forms of art, which she enjoyed. She took photos and learned about composition and how a picture can tell a thousand words. She practiced taking pictures of the other Girl Scouts while they were doing a project, trying to capture what they were doing in a single picture.

            She also told me that she enjoyed drawing. We worked on lines, shading and other drawing techniques. She tried 3D dimension drawing, as well as still life. But her favorite was anime and cartoons. I had her draw what she was good at in anime as well as what she wished she could invent. Both were on drawing.

            She then took what she knew on how to express herself through art, and went and began to express herself through writing, on her own.

Bliss - Live it, Give it -- #3

Magazine Survey

Does the media effect how a girl thinks of herself? In my opinion, yes, for some. When you look through a magazine, you see pictures of girls and women portray what they think is “perfect” or the “ideal image”. It raises the standards for girls on how they think they should look like, or even how they should act. And with that, it also changes their interests and their dreams. What they want to be when they get older or just their goals for the year or even semester. The media has a big impact on what girls and women think of themselves.

When I create characters for books I create what I think is an ideal person. Someone with values I think are important, such as, leadership, friendship and passion. And lots of times I look at my characters that were supposed to be after real people, say… me, and I have transformed them into what I want them to be, not what they are.

And that happens with people, not characters; they try to change themselves for what they think are the better. Just because of what they read or what they see. I have conducted a survey of one of my favorite magazines Justine! and I have learned much about this magazine through this survey versus just reading it. I would strongly suggest doing this same survey for a magazine that you read.

 

 

            Magazine: Justine Magazine

            Month and Year: April/May 2013

            Count the number of ad pages

            11 Ads for beauty and makeup products and services, including perfume

            29 Ads for fashion and accessories, including jewelry, handbags, shoes

            6 Ads for other products and services

            Count the number of pages with editorial content

            18 Editorial or non-ad pages

            Survey the subjects or topics addressed in the editorial content, aside from beauty and fashion

            0 Arts and culture  1 Charity work, philanthropy  1 Travel

            0 Architecture, home décor  0 Dating and relations  0 World affairs

            3 Celebrity news, gossip  2 Health and fitness   16 Other

            2 Careers, business  0 Money management

Count the number of:

0 Women in photos who look like you

2 Women in photos doing something active like kayaking, biking, tennis

1 Women in photos who are or seem to be working

4 Women whom you would describe as looking “perfect”

5 Articles about women that you are interested in reading

1Ads that seem to reflect your values and standards in some way

2 Articles that seem to reflect your values and standards in some way