When springtime rolls around, junior Rohini Ramesh can be seen delivering dozens of Girl Scout cookies to her peers and teachers. These cookies bring joy to many of her buyers and are a seasonal favorite. As the year goes on, however, Ramesh and her troop bring a lot more to the community than just cookies.  

Ramesh has been a Girl Scout with the Wayland troop since she moved to the town in 2011. Throughout her past seven years in the program, she has risen through the ranks, starting with the Junior level of Scout and working her way up to Ambassador, the highest rank a Girl Scout can reach.

“In Girl Scouts, I help out in different communities and I sell Girl Scout cookies,” Ramesh said. “We do fun activities together, and we just help around the community.”

Ramesh has helped her troop post flags on the graves in Lakeview Cemetery, volunteer at Traditions of Wayland and establish a troop of Girl Scouts among the younger girls.

As an Ambassador, Ramesh has the opportunity to try for the Girl Scout Gold Award as she has already completed her Bronze and Silver Award. Unlike the latter two, the Gold Award requires that a Girl Scout implement a community service project individually.    

“The hardest part about this project is that it’s independent,” Ramesh said. “Most of the time, we do stuff together as a troop, so it’s hard to do this alone. Also, this project has to be sustainable, so it’s [going to be] hard to make this project last [for a] long [time].”

For her project, Ramesh will be focusing on educating WHS students on mental health. Her focus will not only be on people suffering from mental illness, but how those around them can help.

“I’m going to be working with WaylandCares and help the kids with parents who have mental illnesses,” Ramesh said. “A lot of people do focus on the people with mental illnesses and they should because it’s a big issue. But there is a bigger impact than [people realize.]”

Mental health has been an issue in Ramesh’s extended family, so she wanted to help kids learn more about the implications that mental illness can have and how to prevent problems.

“[Mental illnesses] affect the people around them,” Ramesh said. “I’m helping the people who are around them and teaching them how they can deal with it. It’s definitely personal to me.”

As many troops enter high school, some Girl Scouts quit due to the increased academic workload and long hours in other extracurriculars. Ramesh’s longevity with Girl Scouts can be attributed to her relationship with the rest of her troop members as well as her passion for helping out in the community.   

“We have a really fun troop,” Ramesh said. “I really like helping around the community and we’ve all become a family because even though we don’t see each other a lot, it’s really fun [when we do]. Even though our troop has become smaller and smaller through the years, it’s still really fun, and I’ve become friends with people whom I probably wouldn’t have [had it not been] for Girl Scouts.”

According to Ramesh, participating in Girl Scouts has taught her vital skills that she feels she will use in the future and educated her on the importance of helping her community.

“[Doing Girl Scouts] has taught me fundraising skills and how to help out in the community,” Ramesh said. “It’s important to help the community because you are helping people who don’t have as much as you, and it’s important to realize that. It makes me feel grateful for everything I have.”