A couple of months ago I realized that this was my last year as an official girl member of GGC. When you’re a Guide you can’t fathom the six, seven, or eight years you have left of Guiding, and even as a Pathfinder and Ranger it seems like you’ve got so much time left. But today I was at one of Ontario’s provincial recognition ceremonies, getting a handful of letters congratulating me on achieving my Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award. Last Tuesday was my last Ranger meeting, and I got a letter about registering in Girl Guides as an adult member in the mail. Where did the time go?

In my ten years of Guiding I’ve been a Brownie helper for four years and a Junior Leader for three years. I’ve been on an international trip, an interprovincial trip, and I went to Guiding Mosaic. I’ve been on two task groups, won a future uniform design contest, and I’ve written for two Guiding blogs. I’ve sold countless boxes of cookies, earned a countable number of badges (107), and met so many absolutely fantastic people.

As a girl member in Guiding, I have had so much fun! It’s a bit disappointing to think that I won’t be participating in anymore camps, or completing anymore challenges, or just hanging out and laughing with all of my friends. I’ve gone through the ranks, and now I’m finished.

But that’s not really true. After Rangers I’ll still be really involved in Guiding, just in a completely different way. Now, I get to be the one planning the weekend camps I enjoyed so much, and taking girls overseas to experience international camping and traveling. I get to be the one facilitating challenges, and helping girls learn new things the same way I did. And best of all, I get to hang out with all of the other leaders who share the same kind of passion for Guiding that I have, and who I know first hand are some pretty cool people.

So even though next year I won’t be a girl member anymore, my opportunities in Guiding are by no means stagnating. Things are definitely going to be different, but I’m certain I’ll continue to learn, grow, and have a whole lot of fun in this next chapter of Guiding.