Off to Boot Camp she goes!

One of my girl scouts, Renee, was shipped off to boot camp for the Navy today. She called yesterday, and I was really sad I missed the call. I would have loved to tell her one more time before she left how proud we are of her and what she's doing.

Lee & I both expect Renee to really come into her own during her time in the service. This is an extremely bright girl, with loads of self-motivation and tons of dedication.

She joined my GS troop in middle school (very unusual) without any prior girl scouting experience. At a time when other girls hide the fact they are girl scouts, Renee has continually embraced and proclaimed her affiliation with us. At the same time, she would claim she was the "worst girl scout ever" because of her sometimes extreme behavior and the drama in her life.

When Renee joined our troop, Diana wasn't really excited about it. This was a girl who had teased her at the Boys & Girls club, and didn't really seem the "type" to want to be doing Girl Scouts. In the beginning, I voiced my expectations for the troop a lot. I wanted all the girls to be clear on what we were doing and why. While all the other girls had been in girl scouts for years, Renee needed to learn all our safety precautions, the buddy system, the need for being respectful to everyone, etc. She figured it out pretty quickly, and became a great example to other girls with her enthusiasm and determination to see her job through, whether it was helping to cater an event, or selling cookies in front of Wal-Mart. Not that my other girls are shy, mind you, but Renee was so out there - you couldn't ignore her.

Over time, I watched her grow a lot. She's still got some issues, but she's so much more mature than when she came in to join us. I appreciated her candor and genuine devotion to the other girls & me (and our family). We all learned a lot from each other, I think.

The military might not be for everyone, but I really think it will do wonders for Renee. Her confidence, self-image and happiness with herself will all soar to new heights. I look forward to meeting her again soon as a sailor in the United States Navy.