Guiding others into the future

Times Reporter

 

As years wear on and children become teenagers, and then become adults, they often leave behind passions they had in their younger days. Some may stay longer in whatever group or club they were in, but often they will eventually leave.

Michaela Grocholski, who grew up in Strathmore, was in Girl Guides when she was young, and though she left for a short time, she has returned now to share the passion and love for it with   future generations.

“Growing up I did 13 years of guiding, I started in Sparks when I was five and went all the way up to Ranger and ended in high school. Just this past year I got back into it by becoming a leader with the Sparks unit which is for girls aged five and six,” said Grocholski.

She had always kind of missed it and after moving to Calgary she felt a little out of touch with her community. Rejoining as a leader was just one way to get involved with the community again.

Grocholski attributes Guides as one of the best things she has ever done, and feels it helped her grow in many ways.

“It’s given me a lot of confidence to try new things and maybe to not to conform to what everyone else is doing. It’s just a lot of making new friends, doing crafty things, going camping and doing a lot of skills that maybe you wouldn’t if you were just hanging out with your friends at their house or whatever,” said Grocholski.

Working with children is something Grocholski will do for the rest of her life. She has recently finished obtaining her degree in education and hopes to teach at a middle school or high school level. Spending all those years in Guides also helps lend experience to her new role as a teacher.

“Hopefully when I get my own classroom and start teaching I can tell girls, ‘hey join this group, it really helped me build skills and do stuff that I wouldn’t have done otherwise,’ ” said Grocholski.

“It’s a pretty rewarding feeling planning for the girls and just seeing how much fun they have. They can always think of something that they love to do at Sparks and most of the time when you ask them what their favourite thing is they say everything. It’s just a nice feeling and it makes me feel like I’ve given something back as well.”

Grocholski is involved with the Calgary Girl Guides, and next year will be leading the Brownies. Registration for all Girl Guides levels begins on June 1.