Today's guest blog post comes from Giselle, a 16-year-old Girl Scout Ambassador who had the incredible opportunity to attend the Leadership Roundtable at the United Nations. Read how her experience meeting a US Ambassador changed her life forever.
Last week, I
had the experience of a lifetime, as I got to attend the “Leadership Roundtable”
at the United Nations with US Ambassador Samantha Power. Ambassador Power is an
amazing woman. She’s poised and powerful, yet kind, open, and down to earth. She’s
also very willing to answer questions about her job and her role as America’s
ambassador to the world. It was an eye-opening experience that taught me new
things about what an ambassador does day to day. And some of her answers were
surprising!
For
instance, a young boy sitting next to me asked her what the biggest challenge of
her job was. Without hesitation, she responded “Syria.” Her response truly
showed me just how critical the situation in Syria had become. Hearing
interviews from newscasts about Syria simply does not have the same impact as
hearing directly from Ambassador Power about the challenges facing that part of
the world. While the news presents information in a very general and abstract
way, Ambassador Power helped me see how difficult the situation really is; and
she gave me hope by communicating that there are many people working hard to bring
peace to an unstable region of our world.
I was one of
the lucky ones who got to ask the ambassador a question, and her answer also
took me by surprise. I asked, "Do you ever feel disrespected when having
to negotiate or make peace with other countries because you are a woman?” While
she acknowledged that sometimes attitudes toward women around the world are not
as respectful as they should be, she said that she has never herself felt
disrespected. I was happy to hear this, because it shows that working women are
starting to become respected and treated equally to men. If more women are put
in positions of power, I believe the overall treatment of women worldwide can
also improve.
I am
thankful for women like Ambassador Power. She balances raising her children with her
service to our country—two very large responsibilities! It was an incredible
honor to meet her.
