Dear Reader (if indeed anyone reads this anymore)...
For nearly 8 years now I have maintained my passion for guiding. In some capacity over these 8 years I have been involved in Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers/The Senior Section and as my time as a Ranger draws nearer to a close as I approach my 18th birthday, I am looking forward to focusing my attention even more on my volunteering and developing as a leader.
In these 8 years I have filled a camp blanket with badges, spent 36 nights away from home including a jamboree, become a guide helper, a young leader, a peer educator and a Brownie leader in training. I've been to Paris, Butlins and slept on a trampoline, volunteered at 4 Thinking Days, watched Rainbows leave to become Brownies and now Guides, and started working towards my Adult Leadership qualification.
Looking back on these things almost makes me cry, laugh, smile and I cannot help but look forward to the future. But despite all of this, I can no longer feel guilty when Guiding is not at the forefront of my mind, or when the rest of my life takes over. I am not only a guider, but a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend, a long term girlfriend, a student, a checkout assistant, a colleague and most of all HUMAN.
I'm writing this on the evening of my final A-Level exam (for this year anyway - it's complicated!) and whilst the exam I sat this afternoon was quite briefly...horrendous.... I wanted to write this because I knew it would make me feel better. I haven't been guiding much of late, and stopped going to Rainbows, Brownies and Rangers until last week, - when I decided to do them all - and being away from things that make me happy certainly made me feel less chipper, quite bored, tired and lonely but I knew that when A-levels were done and I'd given them all I had, guiding would be there to welcome me back afterwards with friendly faces and fun. I guess after that long explanation, that last part was the point I wanted to make - guiding is a family, and you can't escape family.
In these 8 years I have filled a camp blanket with badges, spent 36 nights away from home including a jamboree, become a guide helper, a young leader, a peer educator and a Brownie leader in training. I've been to Paris, Butlins and slept on a trampoline, volunteered at 4 Thinking Days, watched Rainbows leave to become Brownies and now Guides, and started working towards my Adult Leadership qualification.
Looking back on these things almost makes me cry, laugh, smile and I cannot help but look forward to the future. But despite all of this, I can no longer feel guilty when Guiding is not at the forefront of my mind, or when the rest of my life takes over. I am not only a guider, but a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend, a long term girlfriend, a student, a checkout assistant, a colleague and most of all HUMAN.
I'm writing this on the evening of my final A-Level exam (for this year anyway - it's complicated!) and whilst the exam I sat this afternoon was quite briefly...horrendous.... I wanted to write this because I knew it would make me feel better. I haven't been guiding much of late, and stopped going to Rainbows, Brownies and Rangers until last week, - when I decided to do them all - and being away from things that make me happy certainly made me feel less chipper, quite bored, tired and lonely but I knew that when A-levels were done and I'd given them all I had, guiding would be there to welcome me back afterwards with friendly faces and fun. I guess after that long explanation, that last part was the point I wanted to make - guiding is a family, and you can't escape family.
Anyway, on with the show!!!!
Shortly before my brief break from guiding, we kicked off May in true guiding fashion with hot glue, stickers and wax crayons..... Rainbows has a blast decorating tote bags to keep our Rainbow bits and pieces in, by going colour crazy sprinkling flakes of wax crayon all over them and ironing them into some wacky patterns....
... whilst Brownies explored our Guiding promise with cute little promise gardens, complete with fake grass, mirrors, mushrooms and as many flower stickers as a Brownie could want....
Other things include Rainbows working towards their Communicate skills builder (making 'Peg portraits' and exploring stories) and both Brownies and Guides working on the appropriate level of the Explore skills builder, including map skills and exploring Cromer, as well as Guides enjoying their Dinosaur challenge badge - which included food, bath bombs and natural art!
To end the month on a high, we all joined together on the 26th for the 2nd annual Stalham Fringe Festival, in order to promote our work, and give people an insight into what fun we have... by making smores of course. All the girls had a fantastic time, and opted to stick it out in the pouring rain rather than go home early, and personally I ate quite a few marshmallows..oops!!
During the course of the festival our Brownies also had some creative genius on display at the church art exhibition ( I stole this photo from the district Facebook page..).
I know June is well under way (we're having a great time of course) but I didn't want to skip May out completely and I also have fun writing these and documenting what we get up to. June will actually be on time, I promise!!
History fact of the Month....
On May 4th 1494, Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica.
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I promise that I will do my best, to be true to myself and develop my beliefs, to serve the Queen and my community, to help other people and to keep the Guide Law,
Yours,
The 17-Year-Old Brownie
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