Golden Girls

The school year is now in full swing. If you have a daughter, please take a moment and read this. With all the activities vying for your family's time, consider the Girl Scouts. Programs begin as early as Pre-K - Daisies. My daughter began her "tour" as we called it, as a 2nd grade Brownie, culminating in earning her Gold Award when she was in the 11th grade.

I've posted her Brownie, Junior and Cadette/Senior/Ambassador uniform vests earlier - (click here and here and here).

She was the first in her school's 55 year history to earn the Gold and to be able to proudly wear that gold trefoil pin (yes, it is real gold!) on her graduation gown. I also feel the Gold Award was a major factor in the college application and acceptance process. Colleges and universities seeked her out and encouraged her to apply to their institutions. In an ultra-competitive high school, she was the only student in her graduating class who was accepted into all eight private and public colleges and universities. The Gold continues to shine on in college, too, in her application acceptances for various campus organizations and student life leadership programs.

But it's not all about the badges, patches and pins and the cookies. Please read the following article which appeared in the Houston Chronicle. And in 2012, Houston/San Jacinto Council will be hosting the 100th anniversary birthday annual meeting celebration! It will be a great year for the Girl Scouts and your daughter!


When Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts in 1912, women were less equal than men by law. While it was a very different world back then, the values she sought to instill in girls and young women remain as relevant today as they were then — courage, confidence and character.

From its very beginning, Girl Scouting taught girls to become the change they want to see in the world. The Girl Scout experience gave girls, then and now, the confidence and the tools to lead — to find inside the uncertain girl, the citizen who will become a catalyst for action and change.

I am proud to say that I am a Gold Award recipient. Winning this award is something I am still proud of to this day. It is a highlight and a milestone in my lifelong journey to become the best woman I can be.

You see, the Gold Award is the highest honor a girl can achieve in Girl Scouts. This award is the Girl Scout's equivalent of the Eagle Scout for Boy Scouts. Someone once described the Girl Scout Gold Award as being “what you really want to be remembered for” in Girl Scouting.

For many, the leadership skills, organizational skills and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.

Less than 5 percent of girls who join Girl Scouts earn this recognition — a significant honor that requires recipients to demonstrate outstanding leadership skills, career planning, community involvement and personal development.

It takes more than 100 service hours and two to three years of intensive work to complete the award requirements, which include planning and completing a project, which is the culmination of all the work a girl puts into “going for the Gold.”

In the course of this time, I was often tempted to just quit. With all the distractions that high school brings to any girl, the commitment to this project was in itself a test of perseverance. It is something that a girl has to be passionate about in order to complete — in thought, deed and action. The project is something that helps you grow as an individual and fulfills a need within a girl's community (whether local or global), creates change and, hopefully, is something that continues to move you to do more. That's what this award did for me.

I became a Girl Scout Brownie at age 7, in my hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico. My favorite memories are of the fall campouts, which provided me, as an only child, a way to foster my sense of independence, learn the value of camaraderie, and make lifelong friends. I have a picture in my office of two girls who were in Scouts with me. We've been friends ever since.

Scouting was even more meaningful as I got older. I realized that the Girl Scouts had prepared me by teaching leadership and self-reliance, and showing me that there are things out there that are bigger and higher than me, and we need to look at life in the big picture.

With Girl Scouting experience on my college applications, I was accepted to multiple schools on the mainland of the United States, and ultimately chose Syracuse University, for its strong marketing and communications programs. All the colleges and universities I talked with were impressed by my awards and longevity with Girl Scouts. If I had not had that experience, it may have been much tougher for me.

As Girl Scouting approaches its 100th anniversary in 2012, now is a good time to reflect on how far the organization has come and how far it has brought the generations of girls it helped form into leaders. If you were a Girl Scout growing up, you're still one today. Join the alumnae organization. If you have a daughter, as I do, give her the opportunity to succeed in life by getting her involved in Girl Scouts. If you didn't have a chance to be involved in Girl Scouting growing up, it's never too late. Become a volunteer. We as a community can help our young people fully develop the moral and ethical values that will serve them—and all of us—well for generations to come.

Rosa Hernandez, a Girl Scout alumna and volunteer, is vice president of market development for the Houston Astros Baseball Club.

(This appeared in the December 19, 2009 Houston Chronicle )