Kasey Stevens:
One of my absolute favorite projects when I was an active at Phi Chapter was Girl Scout Badge Day. It was our, you know, title project every semester. It was a permanent project for Phi Chapter and.
Trista Guzman Glover:
Every semester we would bring Girl Scout troops to a park nearby campus and we would help them earn badges for the day. As an active, it was my favorite project that we did. We sometimes would have two or 300 girls out there and we would help them earn multiple badges for the day. We would always have a theme that we followed and it was really enjoyable. Genuinely best project that we had at my chapter.
Kasey Stevens:
It’s just really special project every single semester to be able to do, It’s a tradition that they keep live today and something I think we should be really proud of.
Trista Guzman Glover:
So fast forward, I’m in alum life. I’m working on the National executive board at the time and we have another, another alum sister from ASU from Phi Chapter and she worked for the local Girl Scout, uh, council.
Kasey Stevens:
I graduated and was serving on the National Executive Board. My little sister Sarah Heeter was really involved with Girl Scouts. She worked at the council in Arizona and she was constantly telling me and fellow alums about how much they needed troop leaders and how much interest they had, but just didn’t have volunteers. And so I just kind of felt this like calling in my soul of like, I should do this, but I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know who to do this with. I can’t do it alone. So Trista Guzman, now Glover. She was like, we should do it. Let’s do it. Let’s start a troop. We’re gonna do this. We’re gonna kill it.
Trista Guzman Glover:
And I was with Kasey Stevens and she also thought it was a pretty cool idea, but wondered similarly, do we have enough time? And we decided to get a troop together and it was the coolest experience. We got juniors and we took them through several years of their program and helped them earn badges. And we met up at a local church and had meetings with them. And it was really neat to work with the girls. It was really cool to work with parents and really take them through that whole process.
Kasey Stevens:
It was freaking amazing. We had some junior scouts that were still, you know, in the cusp of elementary to middle school and it was just so rewarding being able to guide these young women through badges, through even interpersonal relationships within our troop. It was like we were mentors, we were leaders, we were friends to these little ones who just looked up to us so much, um, just for being there for them.
Trista Guzman Glover:
I love Girl Scouts. I love what they stand for. I love empowering young girls and women to be amazing and to work on hard things that, you know, sometimes are reserved for just the boys.
Kasey Stevens:
And, you know, looking back on it, I think I miss it a ton, but I also like, yes, it was challenging, right? Like of course dealing with little kids. But I got to do it with one of my best friends and one of my sisters and got to do something that was just super impactful for the girls but also for me. Um, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. It was an amazing time.
Kasey Stevens:
So, um, you know, we had this awesome little troup full of young crazies… preteen girls. Always fun. It was the insane, Yeah, it was ridiculous. I think the best part though was being able to go back to our roots, back to Phi Chapter, and actually being able to take our girls to a Girl Scout badge day, which we’ve clearly established is an amazing thing. And magical.
Trista Guzman Glover:
And watching them go through with active sisters like our, our active Phi Chapter sisters, helping them learn to get these batches and seeing it from the other side of like putting it on and all the logistics, but then really appreciating it from the other side was amazing. And I was so impressed by all of our sisters that did such a great job. But it was so cool to see our girls interacting with other OPhiA sisters, because OPhiA is what brought us to being Girl Scout leaders and being Girl Scout leaders together.
Kasey Stevens:
And even just meeting each other too, like yeah, absolutely. We never would’ve met each other probably if it wasn’t for OPhiA . So like to have that through line of meeting his active sisters, like bonding in multiple ways. Um, like interning in DC now, like interning in DC together story, but like interning like and then doing service together, doing service, everything.
Trista Guzman Glover:
And then like now we’re adults. We’re big kids and we’re yeah. Helping to foster the next generation of girls through this process, through our connection to OPhiA , through our connection to Girl Scouts. And it was just like this perfect little circle that had this perfect little bow on top of it. And I always look back at that and I just have the sweetest, warmest, like heartfelt feelings. Yeah, absolutely. So happy.
Trista Guzman Glover:
And I talk about it regularly. I talk about our Girl Scout regularly, even though it’s been a lot of time. Cause they’re apparently freshmen in college now, which I can’t even talk about.
Kasey Stevens:
No way. I can’t imagine that.
Trista Guzman Glover:
So basically, do service. Love your sisters.
Kasey Stevens:
And find those connections, right? Like, I would never have done it if not for even Sarah, like saying, Hey, this is something that we need because I’m involved with this org, I work for them and we need people. Be vocal, be willing and open. Get uncomfortable.
Kasey Stevens:
It was definitely uncomfortable going into a completely unknown thing but having my sister to support me and having others to support, and amazing parents, amazing members, amazing troop. And I hope that other members of OPhiA can think of or even consider doing something like this with someone else they love and can work with, that would be amazing.
Trista Guzman Glover:
It’s life-long service, right? Like when you have time as an alum, you make the time and you do it.
Kasey Stevens:
And, and if you have a lot of time to give, do it. It’s so rewarding and not just for you, you’re making an impact on these kids’ lives. Yep. And they get to learn so much. And do so much so yeah.
Trista Guzman Glover:
So just do it.
Kasey Stevens:
Do it. Volunteer. Get out there, find an org. Like even if it’s something you never thought of or meet new people like, I don’t know, just go do it. It’s like the best thing ever. And it’s even better when you can get someone you love to do it with you.