Girl Scout Alum, Laila Sholtz-Ames
When it comes to go-getter Girl Scout Alums, Laila Sholtz-Ames is leading the way. Laila lives abroad in Madrid, Spain where she teaches English, is working on her third book, and hosts a podcast called Facing Race. Impressive, right?!
Born in Dallas, Texas, Laila was adopted as an infant and grew up in Exeter, Maine. Although Laila was homeschooled, her mom made sure her and her sister were involved in community activities, which included Girl Scouts. Some of Laila’s earliest memories are from Girl Scouts. Her mom was her first troop leader before she transitioned to Troop 70, which she was a member of until she started college. Laila is still friends with some of the girls from her troop and feels fortunate to have had such a great support system.
Laila remembers her experience with Troop 70 in Corinth fondly, especially her leaders, “I had two amazing leaders, Paula Spinney and Karen Keim. They were great role models for all of us girls, and they worked tirelessly to make sure that we always felt supported.”
Her fondest Girl Scout memories include doing community service as a troop, helping organize a sleepover at the Bangor Mall for the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts, and many field trips and outings including going to Mount Desert Island and Camp Natarswi. As Laila says though, “I think my favorite memories were just spending time with the other girls and learning and growing together.”
Reflecting on the skills that Girl scouts taught her, Laila says, “Girl Scouts gave me the opportunity to be a leader, especially as I got older and took on more responsibility in my troop and community. It taught me how to work with other people, how to organize and multi-task, and how to set goals for myself.”
While Laila was a Girl Scout, she earned the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award! Certainly something to be extremely proud of and as she says, “While it was not an easy task, Girl Scouts taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance.” Beyond Girl Scouts, Laila continues to work hard to accomplish great things.
After high school Laila attended University of Maine, graduating with a degree in Journalism and Anthropology. A job at an environmental non-profit took her to Boston for a year before Laila decided she wanted to follow in her parents footsteps and become an educator. That, coupled with a desire to experience a new culture and learn Mandarin, took Laila to China to teach ESL. Returning to Boston after a year, Laila continued teaching for a few years before heading back overseas, this time to Madrid to pursue her Masters in Teaching. After coming back to the states to teach in the Bay Area, Laila realized how much she missed Spain and just last year, moved back to teach English at an international school in Madrid, where her and her husband plan on staying until the foreseeable future.
Because of Girl Scouts Laila is a confident woman who knows that she is able to succeed in whatever she does, and has the following advice for Girl Scouts of all ages, “Always believe in yourself. There will always be obstacles and challenges, but it’s important to have self-confidence and also lean on the other women in your life.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. We are so proud of you, Laila!
