By Madeleine Powell
Editor-in-Chief
Wisdom can be found in the most inconspicuous and unexpected places. No concept better illustrates this than the annual sale of Girl Scout cookies.
I’ve never been a Girl Scout, so I have no knowledge of the lessons selling these cookies might teach to young girls. However, as an avid eater of Girl Scout cookies, the following is a collection of my personal thoughts on what Girl Scout cookies have taught me.
The purchasing of Girl Scout cookies forges friendships. As high school students, we have to search high and low for those of us who are still Girl Scouts and have chosen to sell cookies, or for those with younger siblings we can order them from. In this quest to find someone who still has Samoas left, we may speak with someone we never have before, brought together under the common goal of paying $5 for a box of 20 cookies.
Girl Scout cookies are not always available. Would they be so delicious if we could eat them in October as well as February? Probably, but it is the months when they are unattainable during which we learn the patience that helps us appreciate them even more when they come back into our lives. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and the cookies taste sweeter.
The happiness people receive from Girl Scout cookies is endearing. Every year, I bond with someone new about the joys of putting Thin Mints in the freezer (they really do taste better), revealing that sometimes life’s simplest pleasures are also its greatest.
Through Girl Scout cookies, we also learn how to let go of the past and move forward. Savannah Smiles, one of the only lemon-flavored pastries I enjoyed, are now discontinued. Even though I was sad to find that I could no longer spill powdered sugar all over my clothes while trying to get a box of these cookies open, I am ready to open my heart to new experiences.
Finally, Girl Scout cookies teach us the way that life should truly be lived. What other time of year is it socially acceptable to show up to school with an entire box of cookies, and have it finished by the end of the day (or period)? The answer should be every time. While it may not be advisable from a health standpoint, the sheer joy that is the result of eating way too many cookies can, and should, be carried into all aspects of our daily lives.
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