Text by ASHMITA RAJMOHAN
ASCENT
TO EAGLE
TRAILBLAZING GIRLS RISE TO THE HIGHEST SCOUT RANK
S
OPHOMORE GENEVIEVE man who was an Eagle Scout,” Thesen said. Thesen walked into the Pets in “He looks me up and down, and he sees Need Foundation, a nonprofit an- me helping out with his daughter who is a imal shelter in Palo Alto, carrying little younger than I am and [I am] carrya stack of wooden panels in her right arm ing her pack and lighting fires and building and holding a toolbox with her left. An stoves, and he tells me that I need to join hour later, she closed her car door, a smile Boy Scouts.” of satisfaction on her face. The structures Thesen’s friend, freshman Rae of her raised garden beds were coming to- Sox-Harris, was already familiar with gether seamlessly and with them, the once Scouts and all that it entailed due to her seemingly impossible goal of becoming an brother and father’s active involvement in Eagle Scout was finally within reach. it. When Thesen and Sox-Harris decided Troop 4057 is the first all-girls Scouts together to become Scouts, the latter’s dad, troop in Palo Alto, established shortly af- Alex Sox-Harris, helped start up the Palo ter Boy Scouts of America officially began Alto girls’ troop, Troop 4057, as a separate allowing girls into the entity within the organization in early larger Palo Alto It takes some courage 2019. Consisting of Scouts establish25 girls divided be- to stand up in front of a ment. Through tween two patrols, the word of mouth, group of people and troop met on a regular the troop grew basis for local outings lead them and tell them rapidly. in the Bay Area and what to do. I’ve found annual Scout camps Coed transition across California before that I’ve grown a lot Though girls the pandemic forced a joining Scouts is more comfortable transition online. no longer a rarity, Thesen was not being a leader.” the majority of immediately interested the organization when she first heard — GABRIELA HAKEMAN, sophomore is still comprised that Scouts was openof boys. Members ing up to girls due to of Troop 4057, her unfamiliarity with the organization. including sophomore Gabriela Hakeman, However, a chance encounter during a have had generally positive interactions backpacking trip on Mount Whitney led to with their male counterparts. a change of heart. “I think we’re pretty lucky in Palo “While we were there, we met this Alto because the boys truly perceive us very
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26 APRIL 2021
well,” Hakeman said. “There were quite a few girls that joined at the same time that I did and as the founders, so I felt like there was a really strong and supportive community of other girls right off the bat who were interested in pushing past those boundaries.” While the boys and girls usually have their own separate local outings, the two groups participate in the annual camps together. Oftentimes, the boys far outnumber the girls at these camps. “We’ve been the only girls in some of the Scout camps we’ve been to, and the boys can occasionally be not so nice,” Hakeman said. “They are weirded out and uncomfortable with us being there, so we’ve definitely had moments where we feel like
