The hairnet that changed my life

I never knew that wearing an ugly blue hairnet would change my life, but that is exactly what happened.

I don’t typically wear hairnets, but that day I was at a soup kitchen with my Girl Scout sisters, having our picture taken for a Girl Scout cookie box. Now I’m not on one of the more renowned cookie boxes, like the Thin Mint, but I am on the Savannah Smiles/Lemonades, the cookie created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts. Being on a cookie box made it a lot easier to sell cookies. My family, friends, and sometimes complete strangers would order cookies, and once the cookies came in, some of them even wanted me to autograph the box! I felt like Andy Warhol’s quote came true, because being on that box gave me my 15 minutes of fame.

Sadly, my time as a Girl Scout comes to an end next year as I head off to college, and embark on the next four years of my life. As I look back on my time as the face of the Savannah Smiles/Lemonades, I think of the lessons I’ve learned not only from being on the box, but from being in the organization.

I’ve been a Girl Scout since I was a Daisy in kindergarten, and since then I have blossomed into the person I am today. Girl Scouts’ motto is that they build girls of courage, confidence, and character, and after nearly 13 years of scouting, I find that to be true.

Girl Scouts has given me the courage to try new things and meet new people, made me confident in my own abilities, and helped me grow into a young woman of strong character through all of the opportunities it has offered me.  

As a Girl Scout media girl, I learned to speak confidently and grow my leadership skills. In addition to being on a cookie box, I have appeared on TV and recorded a public service announcement for radio. Earning my Girl Scout Silver Award, I ran a weeklong public speaking workshop for girls, allowing me to pass on the skills I had learned to younger girls.

Attending the Girl Scout National Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2014, I participated in the Girl Scout Leadership Institute, which made me more interested in service projects that could benefit my community. Through the Theatri-Gal program, I got to practice my improvisation and performance skills.

Selling Girl Scout cookies taught me money management skills, goal setting, decision-making, people skills, and business ethics. Earning my Girl Scout Gold award, in which I started an age appropriate, nursery program at my church for children aged 3 to 5 during worship services, I learned how to communicate with young children and create fun and engaging lesson plans. 

Being a Girl Scout has afforded me so many opportunities I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, and for that I am eternally grateful. Girl Scouts has helped me to grow as a person, and to push myself to be the best possible me I can be.

Now, I’m in my senior year of high school and my time as a Girl Scout is coming to an end. I am a little sad, but I think of the new girls that will be on the boxes, and all of the adventures awaiting them. I wonder if any of them need a hairnet.

To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.gsnc.org or contact Donna Rivera-Downey at (516) 741-2550.

Katie Lenz lives in Lynbrook.