My Adventure to NEBRASKA!
YWE Camp - Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska - Summer 2013
When I stop to think about and count how many awesome adventures have been the result of Girl Scouts, I would probably need a few friends to help me count because I wouldn't have enough fingers. This summer I had the opportunity to travel to Nebraska to work with the Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska council at their YWE Camp (which stands for Young Women's Executive camp). Essentially it is a leadership camp for girls who are in high school.
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| Bea & I at the fancy dinner :) |
The first session of camp was located in North Platte, Nebraska, which is 4 hours west of Omaha. Upon arriving to North Platte I was greeted by a wonderful woman named Bea, who would become my best bud for the next week. We were truly a dynamic duo. I had heard many amazing and great things about Bea, but once we became friends there was no doubt in my mind that she would be a mentor and a role model for me. Over the course of the week we shared things about our personal lives and the hopes and dreams that we had for ourselves. I absolutely loved hearing about the many experiences and adventures she has had during her many years with Girl Scouts. I think the most important thing that I learned from Bea is that getting older shouldn't put a damper on the things that you love to do or the dreams that you have. She is very active in her community and is doing so many amazing things. It is my hope that I can keep her positive attitude and passion for life as I get older.
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| The girls and I in front of the lake. |
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| Can't argue with this amazing view. |
The girls arrived for the first session from all across Nebraska. They varied in ages and had many different interests. The one common thread that tied them all together was their desire to learn and be successful in everything they wanted to do. As I listened to these girls, who are only in high school, it amazed me how mature they were and the huge dreams that they have for their life. All of the girls bonded very quickly and there rarely was a time when there was silence from the group. Giggles, stories, and fun times were shared at every minute of the day. We spent countless amounts of hours chatting while swimming in the lake. The women arrived the day after and it was so cool to watch the mentor-mentee pairs work together and get to know each other. The first night they were given the task to each prepare a dish over the fire for our outdoor progressive dinner. We had delicious beef stew, vegetables and dump cake that was each prepared by one of the pairs. After everything was cooked we enjoyed our homemade dinner by the lake while the sun started to set. It all is part of the recipe for a perfect summer evening. Throughout the rest of first session the girls and women participated in leadership circles, learned how to network, did many outdoor activities and enjoyed spending genuine time together. When the weekend came to a close, we all reflected upon each others strengths and it was quite a tearful goodbye.
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| Our wonderful group on our way to our fancy dinner! Yum yum! |
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| Bathroom selfies. You can never go wrong. |
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| Found Buffalo Bill while in North Platte. |
I had a few days in between the 2 sessions of camp, so my wonderful friend Wendy let me stay with her for the duration. We had a lot of fun staying up late watching movies and talking about life. I got to meet her young adorably awesome nephew. We became instant friends, obviously. We bonded over cartoons and our love for pets. I also got to accompany my friend Wendy when she officially adopted her 2 beautiful greyhounds from the humane society. It was my favorite when the greyhounds would race each other around the backyard. They literally were faster than the speed of light. Okay, maybe not that fast, but they were little speed demons. They insisted on being lapdogs while we tried to watch a movie on the couch (which if you have ever seen a greyhound, you will understand why this could be a problem, or end up that your sitting on the floor while the dogs are on the couch...).
Our second session of YWE Camp was located about an hour south of Omaha at one of the Girl Scout council's camps. The camp property is absolutely amazing! It's located right by an orchard and has beautiful cabins, a pool, high & low ropes course and a great archery range. During this session we had 8 girls and 8 women. The women came from organizations like Union Pacific, Borsheims Jewelry Co, Nebraska Furniture Mart, the Community Services Fund and many more. We had the privilege of hearing some sessions about finical literacy, etiquette, business card making, train safety and so much more. One thing that we got to do that was different than the week before was the high ropes course. Now I'm not much of a person who is into heights and such, but I do enjoy watching others and cheering them on. Our first obstacle was the huge rock wall!! And let me tell you, boy was it a tall wall! It was amazing to watch people scamper up to the top like they were spiders going on a leisurely stroll. One girl, Mia, showed true determination to get to the top. She got about 3/4 of the way up to the top and then started to struggle. She could have easily given up and been satisfied with the distance she had traveled, but she didn't. Instead she went at it until she was successful. I think I can speak for all of us that were on the ground cheering her on that we probably wanted her to succeed just as much as she wanted it. Every time her hand slipped or she lost her grip I felt it like I was up there with her. Once she made it to the top cheers erupted as her fellow Girl Scout sisters celebrated this accomplish with her. I was SO proud of her and know that the determination she demonstrated will carry her far in life.
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| The girls and mentors from Session 2! :) |
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| The wonderful Girl Scout staff that I got to work with while I was in Nebraska. |
Going into this experience I had 2 goals for myself:
#1. To be a mentor for the girls and to learn how I can support them to be successful.
#2. Network with the women mentors that were coming.
As I reflect upon my time at YWE Camp, I can say that I definitely worked to accomplish both of those goals. There is however one other thing that I gained from this experience that was unexpected. During those two weeks I gained a new sense of who I am and who I want to be. I learned new things about myself and became more confident in the woman that I am becoming. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone by trying new things. But most of all I let my walls and my guard down. As I traveled back to Chicago to get ready to start my junior year of college, I felt a wave of calmness and readiness for anything that comes my way. In those 2 weeks I met amazing women and girls who left imprints on my hear. I met life changers, young and old, who are passionate about doing things to better the world. I was surrounded by the sisters that the Girl Scout organization has given me the chance to meet and befriend. And all of that is exactly what I needed.
Click
here to read an article that the local newspaper published about our camp's first session.
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| Zip lining through the forest. Wheeeee! |
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| Meet my wonderful horse Utah. |
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| Showing off my mad archery skills. No big deal. :) |
P.S. For those of you wondering why this post is titled "Chicago pizza, bears and more" let me explain. During introductions the first session I told the group I was from Chicago and one of the girls stopped me mid-sentance and asked, "So if your from Chicago, do you eat Chicago pizza all the time?" It caught me off guard and made me chuckle. Later on that day I found a picture of one of the founders of the cabin pictured with a bear. They told me that he was from North Platte and that helped do something with the cabin we were staying in. My next question to them was, "So are there bears in Nebraska then? Because he has a pretty nice sized bear chilling out with him..." Everyone proceeded to laugh and say "Of course not Jenny! Why would there be bears in Nebraska?" My question to them is still, then why the heck is he chilling out with a bear?
{Peace&Love} Jenny
