Helping Others is the Highest of Honors

For most of us when we hear “Girl Scouts” we think of Thin Mints and Samoas, but Auburn’s Melissa Hamling (19) thinks of it as some of her fondest memories and relationships. Now a sophomore at the University of Portland studying Civil Engineering, Hamling was a part of Troop 50050, where she was with the Girl Scouts for 13 years.

“I first started Girl Scouts when I was in first grade as a Daisy.,” said Hamling.  “I started off in troop 41323 but after most of the girls in my troop left, me and a few other girls combined with troop 50050 which is where I stayed until I aged out.”

In 2018, having completed the Bronze and Silver Awards, Hamling decided that she, “wanted to achieve the highest honor of being a Girl Scout,” the Gold Award. This award is a project and a process to prepare young women for the real world. Hamling states, “you have to balance your school life, social life and this project all at once.”

Creating a program to help eighth-graders from her former middle school apply for private high school, Hamling scheduled time to help these students prepare for placement tests, write essays, and learn the application process. This program also gave these students the skills they needed to apply to college as well. To further assist these teenagers, once the program was over, Hamling created a website to provide continuing access to all the resources used in the program. You can see all of her incredible work as well: https://highschoolprepcourse.weebly.com.

Hamling received her Gold Award certificate in May 2019, along with only 39 other Girl Scouts from Washington. Hamling believes this process taught her the value of time management, communication, and how helping others with your skills and experiences can be so rewarding. All skills she says she is still using now.

While her time with the Girl Scouts has passed, the lessons learned have not. Hamling plans on graduating and using her degree to create and design future ideas. Although you might only know Girl Scouts for the box of Thin Mints, which Melissa admits she, “could eat a whole box of in one sitting”, the reach and help these young girls provide the community far exceeds the cookie stand outside your local grocery store.