On the move: I will always be a Girl Guide

Back in 2013, I wrote about my move from being a Girl Guide in Vancouver, B.C to being a Girl Scout in Hanover, New Hampshire. This fall, I started classes at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec. Before arriving at Bishop’s, I looked online to find the closest Girl Guide unit. I sent out an email to Quebec provincial council  letting them know I was interested in being a Guider. The next step was to sit back and wait for a response.

About two weeks later, while sitting in my dorm room working on an assignment at 4:30pm  I received a call. It was the Guider of a local Sherbrooke unit wondering if I was still interested in being a part of a unit. There was a meeting that night – an open house for anyone interested in being a part of Guiding. I told her I was still interested and would come to the meeting at 6:00 p.m. The next hour and a half were spent finding my uniform, tucked away at the back of my drawer, and finding the meeting place in town.

When I stepped into the meeting room I was greeted by smiling faces and happy children. It brought me back to being a Girl Assistant in Vancouver. I knew that I was back where I belonged. The first meeting was a success and I picked up a registration form on the way out. I am no longer a girl member, I am now Squirrel, the Unit Guider. My new unit is a multi-branch unit, and the way it is set up works so well. Helping one of my Sparks learn how to conduct a flag ceremony along with the Guides last week showed me that girls, no matter their age, can do anything they set their mind to. Seeing them smile makes everything worth it.

No matter where I’m living or what I’m doing with my life, I will always be a Girl Guide.

Guest post by Dena Schertzer. Dena started out as a Brownie with West Point Grey District in Vancouver, BC. After a brief moment as a Girl Scout in New Hampshire she is back with Girl Guides of Canada. This time in Sherbrooke, Quebec as a Sparks Guider with the 1st Lennoxville Guides.