What’s on your bucket list for 2018? How about a little more travel and adventure and new ways to connect with your #globalgirlsquad? Good thing a Girl Guide travel experience has it all.
With applications closing Wednesday, January 17 for our 2018 B.C. Wilderness Adventure trip for girls 16+, here’s what Girl Guides Lois and Laura have to say about their recent adventure and leadership conference hosted by Girl Scouts in Japan.
(Warning: After reading this, you’ll totally want to apply for a Girl Guide travel experience.)
Participating in this travel experience benefited me in so many ways. The main leadership event was held at the Girl Scouts of Japan’s Togakushi Centre. Placed right at the base of a beautiful mountain range, Togakushi was the perfect setting to be immersed in Japanese culture and the global sisterhood of Guiding.
Before attending the event in Togakushi, my travel partner and I were lucky enough to have a few days in Tokyo on our own. This experience in itself was amazing. We faced several trials and tribulations during this period that challenged us to use our savvy and work as a team to overcome the obstacles in our way. We learned as much about ourselves and each other in those few days as we did about the city and the country.
One of the most important things I learned from this Girl Guide travel experience came from the other event participants themselves, young women from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. Although they were so similar to us in so many ways, they still saw the world from a very different perspective. By learning more about them and their world, I learned how to be more understanding and tolerant. Biases I brought to the event were quickly challenged and brought down.
This Girl Guide experience has continued to affect my life in positive ways as I find myself applying lessons I learned through travel and at the event to my everyday life. I made new friends both far and wide and it has made me grow as a person and to see myself in new ways. I have always raved about Girl Guides and told anyone who would listen about the opportunities it has to offer – and this experience has made me appreciate Guiding even more.
- Lois Fraser is a fourth-year forensic psychology student at the University of British Columbia- Okanagan. Lois was in Girl Guides for eight years as a girl and has now returned as a Unit Guider for the 1st Westbank Sparks.
This Girl Guide trip was such a unique opportunity to take action for a better world. There is something about gathering in a room of conscientious young women, with big ideas and a drive to collaborate that is an unstoppable feat.
One of the most profound things I learned from this is the idea of taking a worldly perspective. It’s is easy to get caught up in the weekly logistics of our own Guiding activities and forget that we are part of a worldwide organization. During this trip, I gained a whole new perspective into the vast impact Guiding can have all over the world, and I hope to take full advantage of that in the future.
After this experience, I am more excited than ever to meet sisters in Guiding from across Canada and around the world. Although we may come from completely different backgrounds or cultures, by sharing a love for Guiding, any differences we may have disappear.
I would encourage any Girl Guide member to seize all Guiding opportunities that come your way. Even if you think you don’t have a chance of being selected (as I felt myself before this trip), take a leap of faith because Guiding can open up incredible opportunities.
- Laura Meleady is a third-year biochemistry student at the University of British Columbia. Laura has been involved in guiding since the age of 5, and continues as a unit leader for the 34th West Point Grey Guides.
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