It was a love affair, a romantic story to tell. Fate brought us
here. Yes, it was destiny. It was a mere fantasy that has come to life. It was
magic. There were fireworks in the sky. Nope, I will not tell you about my love
story; but my love story with service and carefree volunteerism.
“Oh! So are you selling cookies?” No fail, this has always been
the first question asked to me whenever I tell people that I am a Girl Scout.
Yes, the girls in green, loud and proud. Most of the people think that Girl
Scouting is designed for young little girls. But what they do not know is that
the Girl Scouting life does not stop there. Girls Scouts can age from 3 to 100!
Girl Scouting is in my bloodline. My grandmother and my mother
were active girl scouts during their times. Both of them were Girl
representatives to the central board. My mom was sent to Hong Kong and New York
for international conferences to represent the Girl Scouts of the Philippines.
And me, well, I was designed to be a Girl Scout.
I am lucky enough to have Girl Scouting in my past schools, St.
Gerard School and International School for Better Beginnings, both in Lucena
City. First and foremost, my driving force in volunteering for this movement is
because of my role models, my grandmother and my mother. Ever since I can
remember, I wanted to follow their footsteps and achieve as much as they have.
But as I engage myself in this beautiful endeavor, I further discover my true
calling. It’s not only because I wanted to follow the footsteps of my
grandmother and my mother but because I want to reach out, inspire, and empower
other girls who share the same passion with me.
Any initiative is better than nothing. We have to start
somewhere. We cannot just lie down on our beds and watch the sunrise and sunset
in order to see the change we want to happen. We have to make that change
happen.
In my more than a decade of being a Girl Scout, I am very
fortunate and glad with what I have achieved as a volunteer. I was awarded as a
Chief Girl Scout Medalist in 2011. I am elected as a Girl Representative to the
Central board for the Southern Luzon Region in 2012. I was sent to Chicago,
Illinois for the Girls’ World Forum in 2012 as well. Currently, I am a part of
the girl planning team for the National Girl Gathering 2013.
As an active Girl Scout, I oblige myself to be a better person
and be that change woman in order to spread out change in the world. Not only
do I share what I know and have learned to the people around me, but to inspire
them to move and take action too. Being of service means being helpful and
doing the right things. Service makes the world better. Taking action means
striving to make the world better in pursuing a long-term impact.
I am awakened by the pain of reality which brings me in
formulating a vision; a vision I want to share with the world so that, we can
make that vision a reality. I cannot achieve this on my own, but I firmly
believe that it has to begin somewhere, if not them, me.
Mahatma Gandhi believes that the best way to find yourself is to
lose yourself in the service of others. Volunteering and being of service do
not do any harm. However, there are a lot of sacrifices to be done but it will
surely pay off. It is important to be passionate and be in love with what you
are doing. It helps you create the most fruitful outcome. You would not feel
any pain or tiredness because at the end of the day, despite the challenges,
you have a big smile on your face and looking forward to continue it in the
coming days.
In GWF 2012, there was a quote which really moved me. “If you
can change people, you can change the world.” Changing the world is no easy to
ask and we have to start somewhere. And that’s where volunteering begins.
Contributed by:
Julienne Therese V. Salvacion
Ateneo de Manila University
BS Legal Management minor in Development Management
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