My Passion

Girl Scouting, what is it really all about? It is about building girls of courage confidence, and character. But what does those words really mean?

Courage enables us to face difficulty. Confidence is belief is yourself and your abilities, and character is a composition of exquisite qualities such as honesty, courage, and integrity.

I have fought long and hard in my own quest of courage, confidence, and character. All of my life, self-esteem has been a struggle for me. As a child, I experienced two divorces and struggled with feeling unloved. My low self-esteem made me a target in school to teasing, mocking, and mean practical jokes. But my worst enemy has been myself. My worst enemy is my inner critic mocking me, telling me I am not smart enough, strong enough, or pretty enough.

No girl or boy should struggle as I did, and honestly it has not been until very recently that I have come to truly love myself.

Through my thirty-six years of life I have experienced many things, but one of my most amazing experiences began when I walked out of the dressing room in my new dobok. I was at my heaviest weight.  When I tied my white belt, after the knot there was very little belt left. I just had two short stubs that stood up in the air. You won’t believe how many children asked me what was wrong with my belt. Speaking of children, I was the only adult in my first class. But this first awkward experience has opened up so many avenues for me, especially my self-esteem. Graduating magna cum laude from Youngstown State University in my thirties wasn’t enough to boost my self esteem. Even though I was married with a kindergartner and a cocky teenager at home, after achieving my degree with all these obstacles, I still didn’t feel good enough, but Tae Kwon Do has changed me.

I never thought I would do anything physical, especially at 250 pounds, but I have, and I am doing something very physical. In the past year I have performed in almost 10 martial arts demonstrations, one of them being during the Harlem Globe Trotter halftime show. I have competed at the Arnold Sports Festival and came home with 2 silver medals, one in forms and one in sparring. Trust me I have never been very coordinated and martial arts does not come naturally to me. Doing forms is oftentimes a struggle for me, and there are many techniques that I have not mastered yet, like a jumping front kick, but practicing and performing martial arts has shown me I have the ability to do anything. And yes Tae Kwon Do has helped improve my self-esteem dramatically.

In my first Tae Kwon Do class, I absolutely fell in love with Martial Arts. I work an hour away from home, and my top number one priority when I get off work, is to make it to Taylor’s Martial Arts, quickly change, and kick into class.

Tae Kwon Do is also a top priority for my daughter, Franchessca, who is a martial arts student that attends the Afterschool Martial Arts Program and Tae Kwon Do Summer Camp. Both are very beneficial, but very expensive programs that I pay for each week regardless of my daughter’s attendance.

At Tae Kwon Do there are focus words, and two of my favorite words are confidence and perseverance.

Confidence: believe in yourself!

Perseverance: never give up, sir or ma’am.

 Why? In martial arts your goal is attaining a black belt, and that can not be done without confidence or perseverance. And a black belt in Martial Arts is an allegory to any difficult goal, whether it is graduating college, buying and keeping a home, or achieving your dream job. None of it can be done without confidence or perseverance.

The majority of students at the Jr. Tae Kwon Do School are not adults, but children and Tae Kwon Do prepares them for the difficulties in life. I have firsthand knowledge regarding some devastating difficulties in life, and I am dedicated to making a difference in the life of every young girl I meet, hoping that they won’t live with the crushing emotions and feelings that I have dealt with, that led me to write a poem about committing suicide. And if I did not have writing as an outlet, I may have committed the very act.

My passion is fighting for mental health, self confidence, courage for standing up for what you believe, and self esteem tempered with altruism and respect for others. Of course my passion begins with me and my daughter.

Last year when my daughter was in a different Girl Scout Troop, I sat in the meetings wishing I was doing cardio kick boxing or Family Class. What I didn’t know was that my daughter was also secretly wishing she was at Tae Kwon Do.

Due to scheduling conflicts, the meeting day and the time of Franchessca’s Girl Scout Troop changed, and she was unable to participate in the troop. I was heartbroken that my daughter would no longer be in a Girl Scout Troop. I desperately began searching for a troop that would fit around my work schedule, and around our Martial Arts Training. I had no success after looking at all the troops in Howland, Warren, Cortland, and other surrounding areas.

My mind started percolating. What if there was a Girl Scout Troop at Tae Kwon Do for Tae Kwon Do students that worked around their Martial Arts Training? Can profit from the Fall Product Sale and Cookie Sale go towards the girls Martial Arts Training? Can the girls perform Tae Kwon Do Demonstration in their Girl Scout Uniform, and be announced as Girl Scouts before their performance?

After getting Mrs. Taylor permission to have a Girl Scout Troop at the Junior Tae Kwon Do School, I began digging around for answers. And the answer to all these questions were yes and this is how our Girl Scout Troop began.

Combining Tae Kwon Do with Girl Scouts takes the Girl Scouting experience to a totally different level.

Girl Scouts is about building future leaders, and so is Tae Kwon Do. And you know what, us girls are complicated, and many of us are dealing with feeling less than. Girl Scouts is about empowerment, and so is Tae Kwon Do. It is a perfect marriage. Girls need to know that they can do anything, and many girls put Girl Scouting in its own special box, separated from all their other activities, but why? A girl will always be a girl whether she is playing with her friends, going to school, competing in a spelling bee, graduating from high school, or doing Tae Kwon Do. Combing Tae Kwon Do with Girl Scouts will show girls that the can do anything and still be a Girl Scout.

 Imagine girls in their martial arts dobak and their Girl Scout Sash performing a martial arts demonstration, teaching self defense, and bully prevention. It will make a definite statement that girls can do anything.

And its no big secret that martial arts is expensive. Wouldn’t it be neat if the girls learned about financial literacy by a portion of their proceeds going towards their training? And using the money earning projects to teach the girls about what it is like to be an entrepreneur. Allowing the girls  to plan and choose their own money earning project, whether it is a sock hop, or a spaghetti dinner, or a pancake breakfast. Look at our economy today. We need to teach our children, especially our girls about being financially savvy. 

All these reasons are why I feel very strongly about combining Girl Scouts and Tae Kwon Do.