Photo courtesy of Amelia Polyviou

Visual senior Amelia Polyviou and fellow Girl Scout member and Stetson University student Colette Lacouture take a selfie in front of a cultural landmark during an organized trip directed by Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida (GSSEF).

Among the 2.7 million girls dressed in distinctive uniforms around the world, stands visual senior Amelia Polyviou. She is currently participating in food and book drives along with volunteering to help various hospitals and church programs with her local Girl Scout organization, Girl Scouts of Southeast Florida (GSSEF).

GSSEF was started in Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low. Since its beginning, GSSEF has formed passion, confidence, and personality amongst young girls.. Polyviou joined the organization in 2011. GSSF is open-minded towards discovering new things, creating solutions, and environmental activism.

“I mainly got involved [in Girl Scouts] because my friend suggested it to me and I had already been doing similar events,” Polyviou said.

Polyviou joined GSSEF at 11. She entered the girl scout world as a cadette, a group that consists of girls in grades 6-8; Polyviou has been working towards achieving higher titles by working with her community.

“Girl Scouts is such an amazing program.” Polyviou said, “I decided that if I was going to do it, I needed to see it through to the end. [This] eventually lead me to obtaining the ‘Ambassador’ title, which is the highest title a Girl Scout can get.”

GSSEF troop leader Lynn Monette has participated in helping girls learn and grow throughout the Girl Scout organization for the past 15 years, ever since 2001.

“The Girl Scout program builds girls of ‘Confidence, Courage, and Character,” Mrs. Monette said. “Older girls, such as members in high school, benefit from leadership development, goal setting, skill building, and networking as well as travel (local and world) and volunteer opportunities.”

After participating in Girl Scouts for a long period of time and being in her last year of this organization, Polyviou has learned to work by herself and work towards the “Gold Award.”  With this reward, Polyviou will end her journey of a Girl Scout.

“I’ve been able to work closely with the community,”  Polyviou said. “It has helped me tremendously with college by allowing me to get community service hours and obtain scholarships.”

The organization has allowed many girls with similar interests, along with Polyviou to interact with numerous people, attend multiple events, work and volunteer in different areas.

 “Some events that we attend include camp events where all Girl Scouts of all ages attend a camp,” Polyviou said. “The camp is always themed, depending on the time of year or holiday within the time frame. It helps teach the girls different skills.”

For many girls, Girl Scouts talked about in daily conversations in a time like today, where school, sports, and (specifically for Polyviou) arts takes up the majority of their time during their high school years.

“I think Girl Scouting competes for extra-curricular time in a girl’s life when there are many other options out there,” Mrs. Monette said. “For some, the Girl Scouting program loses out to sports, jobs and other important extra-curricular activities. For others who learn to balance their schedule and include our program, Girl Scouting fills a gap for girl-specific and individual growth that other activities do not provide.” Mrs. Monette said.

Receiving badges and selling cookies is just the basis of Girl Scouts. However, this experience also gives girls the opportunity to experience new things, travel to new places, and meet new people.

“My favorite part of Girl Scouts is that I get to meet lots of wonderful people who I wouldn’t have met if i wasn’t apart of it,” Polyviou said. “I’ve made so many connections to communities by means of Girl Scouts. It’s been extremely rewarding.”

For Polyviou, Girl Scouts has not only taken up the majority of her school years, but it has also allowed her to become the girl in which she is today.

“I am proud that Amelia has experienced volunteering with so many different organizations benefiting children fighting cancer, the poor, the hungry, the needy, and our U.S. Military,” Mrs. Monette said. “I am most proud that Amelia has experienced new adventures in her life; she has tried things that perhaps she may not have done without Girl Scouts. She traveled out of the country and has experienced different world cultures as a result of her membership.”