Shamarie D., of Genesee STEM Academy, was asked to tell her story at the 2019 Girl Scout Annual Golf Day. Even though she’s just in the 6th grade, the impact that Girl Scouts has had on her is tremendous. Take an inside look into her journey and what she had to say that day.

My name is Shamarie Davenport and I’m a proud Girl Scout!

I’m 11 years old and heading into the 6th grade at Genesee STEM Academy. I’m beginning my second year as a Girl Scout. Through the Girl Engagement Initiative, every girl in my school can participate in Girl Scouts.

This year, I have had a chance to do all sorts of things with Girl Scouts. As a Junior, we’ve explored further into subjects we learn in school. At Genesee STEM Academy, we do many hands-on projects around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Both of my parents work for GM, so I grew up with STEM being a big part of my household without me even knowing!

I have two younger sisters who participated in Junior First Lego League, where they worked to program robots. I volunteered my time to help the team understand the challenge and brainstorm ideas for their model.

As much as I love all of the fun adventures in scouting, being a Girl Scout has taught me about why it’s so important to give back to my community. When I help people, it makes me feel so good. One of my favorite field trips was visiting the Forgotten Harvest Farm. We picked produce, and learned how package and send it off to people who need it.

My Girl Scout experience would not be complete without selling cookies of course! I loved selling cookies, but especially the practice that we got during the school day, pretending we were each other’s customers. I worked very hard and earned two of the three major incentives that we could. The best part about selling cookies was getting to sell them at a Flint Firebirds hockey game.

I also got to experience going to camp, including going swimming, making friendship bracelets and how to safely build a fire to cook over. I’m looking forward to more years of visiting camp, trying new things and as always, making and eating more S’mores!

When I grow up, I want to become a veterinarian and I know everything I’m learning will be important. I just finished earning my “Animal Habitats” badge, and I plan to earn my “Animal Helpers” badge as a Cadette!

If you know a girl that wants to be a Girl Scout, please visit gssem.org/join.