Alumnae Story
The Wider Op That Never Stopped

By Laura Minkin Alluin
Senior Girl Scout from Troop 36, Los Angeles, now lifetime member from San Diego

In the summer of 1989, 12 girls and two adults from all across the U.S. (every region was represented) traveled to West Germany, just months before the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany, to attend a huge (estimates of participants were in the thousands) international camporee centered around the visual and performing arts.

The journey began and ended at Girl Scout headquarters in New York with home hospitality on Long Island, a few weeks of home stays in Lubeck, the marzipan captial of the world, primitive camping in a farmer's field in Bavaria for a few weeks while attending arts workshops, and bed-and-breakfast accommodations in Munich for pure tourist sightseeing.

The 14 of us, thanks to modern technology, have stayed in touch for 17 years! Nine of us gathered again in New York and Connecticut for our 10-year reunion in 1999. A few of us get together on a more regular basis, but mainly we rely on e-mail and old-fashioned letters for correspondence. We have shared our college years, first jobs and job changes, weddings and breakups, and now babies with each other across the miles and over the years, and our strong communication shows no sign of slowing.

When we met again a few years ago, we shared how the experience of representing the U.S. as Girl Scout ambassadors abroad influenced our lives as adults. Some of us took a bigger interest in international studies and relations, leading to greater travel opportunities over the years, including someone who has made Brazil her permanent home! Others were inspired to study more about American history and culture, questioning what it means to "represent the U.S." Nevertheless, we all cherish the experience in our own way, and truly have wonderful memories that last a lifetime.