What I Learned From A Group Of Girl Scouts

Posted by John in June 4th, 2008

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My Interview Presentation
Kids today seem to be so self absorbed. Into everything about “me”. On the surface they just don’t seem to care about much except the latest Hollywood gossip and whatever the latest drama bomb their friends have just dropped. I think our culture is on the skids and much has to do with the horrendous condition of our school system, both public and private. Now that I have depressed everyone in the room, let me share a bright spot with you.

I was asked to give a presentation this past Friday night to a group of girl scouts. Not any old troop, the owner of my company’s, wife’s girl scout troop. No pressure there! This troop of about 15, thirteen year olds are working on their latest badge and are learning about careers. My portion of the evening revolved around “How to prepare for a job Interview”. I gave about a 20 minute interactive presentation, with me speaking and the girls asking questions. Afterwards, I held a mock interview with each girl, one on one, for a position with the local SPCA. I asked the following:

Please start by telling me a little about yourself.
Describe a problem you have encountered and how you were able to overcome it.
Please tell me about some experiences you have had working with animals.

Having not been thirteen for quite some time, I struggled with what questions I was going to ask. I was particularly worried about question #2. However, after successfully interviewing the first girl, all of my worries were put to rest. These girls rocked! From the word go, they began telling me who they are and all of their accomplishments. Question #2 didn’t seem to phase them one bit. A common theme in the answer to #2 was conflict resolution with their friends. I began to see that there is much more to all this drama that they experience. Most were very concerned about the fighting amongst friends and didn’t seem to understand why it has to be like that. But all wanted to be problem solvers and help work things out. I was very impressed with the answers I received. These girls proved to me that you can be absorbed in all of the Hollywood glamour #@!$ and still have your head on you shoulders and care deeply about things that matter. An opinion that I probably couldn’t have formed simply by watching the paparazzi driven entertainment stories force fed to us daily on all forms of media.

In conclusion, I have great news! There is hope for the future! Not all teenagers are mindless, consumerism driven, techno gadget addicted, mush brained, me too lemmings! Not that I really thought that ALL teenagers were like this. But I have been worried for some time now that kids today just don’t care about the future, ours or their own. Friday night opened my eyes to a new perspective about our young people. I am sure you know teens like the one’s I met Friday night. I encourage you to get involved in some way and make a difference in their lives. If you already are doing so, good for you and let us know about it!

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sogeshirts (16 comments) Said in June 5th, 2008 @2:45 am

Thats refreshing. Good to hear that some young people still have a brain and aren’t brainwashed by high school musical, miley cyrus, and the jonas brothers. I still fear for the upcoming generation in general but it is unfair for me to label all of them into the same gossip loving herd.

[Reply]

ssgreylord (27 comments) Said in June 5th, 2008 @4:15 am

What encouragement! I had a similar experience teaching yoga to kids (pre-teens) and they took the class so seriously. And instead of trying to compete with one another they let go of their little egos and focused on what they and their bodies were actually doing. More hope for the future. An ability to focus, a desire to do well and energy to pour into things they are excited about… yeah!

Blake (27 comments) Said in June 5th, 2008 @9:12 pm

I know what the general consensus is about our generation, and while in large part I can’t disagree, I also believe we can and will do big things. However, it does seem like for every young person who is aware of the real world and prepared for bright future, there are about 10 more who live sheltered lives, completely oblivious to to anything beyond their very limited perspective.

Like John and the others before me noted though, there is hope! Neat post John.

Heidi (33 comments) Said in June 7th, 2008 @1:20 am

What a relief. Sometimes I am so scared for my little girls to become teenagers. It seems so different than when we were kids but maybe not.Great questions by the way.

jeflin (7 comments) Said in June 7th, 2008 @8:08 am

Actually, that is my worry too. I used to associate traits like vanity and money-minded to adults and with kids getting more precocious these days, I thought that they are losing their innocence and priorities at an early age.

But after reading your posts, it is a relief to know that the influences from online and offline media are not turning them into airheads.

Jeff
http://jeflin.net

TKH (3 comments) Said in June 8th, 2008 @4:47 am

What can a man in his late thirties and working as a GM in a tech company learn from a group of girl scouts? Your neat entry title caught my eyes, and I must admit your thinking aloud struck a cord in me. This episode hints that kids of the new generation are more brilliant than we think, and are capable of handling more things than we are used to. Perhaps this is the result of the saying, “Only good genes are passed on from generation to generation”?

John (242 comments) reply on June 13, 2008 12:33 am:

I’ll tell you, I am in general very worried about the current generation being brainwashed by our popular culture, Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan and the like. But it was very refreshing speaking with these young ladies. I had a great learning experience.

David Tamayo (9 comments) Said in June 13th, 2008 @12:24 am

A common friend sent me a shout on digg regarding this post. I love it when I am given a heads up on great things. This post is one of them. Fantastic insight. Please keep up the great work. The future is our children, reassuring to now that it is a bright one. =0)

John (242 comments) reply on June 13, 2008 12:44 am:

I’m glad you found my blog! Thanks for the words of encouragement. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

David Tamayo (9 comments) Said in June 13th, 2008 @12:28 am

I was told about this post by a common friend. I love it when I am given a heads up about great things. Fantastic insight my friend. Please keep up the great work. Our future is in our children, good to know that it is a bright one. =0)