Girl Guest Post: GSLI Summer Programming, Presented by Amazon
September 23, 2024
The Girl Scout Leadership Institute (GSLI), presented by Amazon, is an initiative of the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas to empower and equip high school girls to pursue higher education and expose them to a variety of career opportunities. The Institute gives girls in grades 9-12, the opportunity to visit local corporations and universities, gain access to female role models and empower girls to positively impact their communities now and in the future.
Job shadowing is one component of the program. This offers girls the opportunity to learn about a particular occupation or profession to see if it might appeal to them. In job shadowing, a business typically partners with an organization, like Girl Scouts to provide an experience for a girl as she accompanies a worker throughout their day to day work schedule. Girls ask questions, find the challenges each job has and use this experience to determine if a specific career might be right for them. It also provides networking to seek further advice, career tips, references or internships in the future.
This summer, one of job shadowing opportunities was with Southwest Transplants Alliance. There, the girls met with surgeons who remove the organs from deceased donors, viewed the operating room, and learned about the process of finding a donor, being a match, and how that will lead to saving someone's life. They were also able to touch organs that were donated to science.
GSLI Senior Girl Scout Anika Godvarti, who would like to be a cardiologist says that her passion for medicine started from a desire to learn about the complexities of the heart and its vital functions. She shared with us her experience with this job shadowing:
Our day started off with introductions and a presentation that went over how the donation process is like.
Then we headed to the laboratory where we were able to get a hands on feel and leant about the various machines and instruments used in the lab to conduct new research. Our mentor in the lab was incredibly knowledgeable, sharing insights about the advanced technologies at STA. I found this part of the day the fascinating because I had never been in an environment like that before.
After that came the most exciting part of the day: the organ and tissue wet lab along with the catheterization lab! As a watcher of medical shows and someone interested to go into cardiology, the catheterization lab was very impressive to see in person. The organ and tissue wet lab was a standout moment; seeing recovered organs up close and learning about their functions and the ongoing research was so enlightening to learn about.
By attending this program I was able to have the incredible opportunity to dive deeper into the intricate process of organ transplant. I was able to gain insights on the advanced medical procedures involved and was able to gain practical knowledge and a clearer understanding of the healthcare field.
