Womxn in Progress: Emily Stanislawski

Every Wednesday in March 2022, I am sharing one #womxninprogress, detailing the work of a creative, inspiring womxn in my life. Click here to learn about these spotlights and/or submit a spotlight.

Emily “Jinga” Stanislawski and I met at Camp Alice Chester a cool 9(!) years ago. 2013 marked her first summer working at Girl Scout camp, it was my last. While she was often at the waterfront, under the camp name “Jinga”, I preferred land-side hikes and hills with “Sunshine” as my alias. We reconnected over Zoom last night, and as Jinga herself said, it felt like no time had passed. Camp will always connect us, as Girl Scouts at large continues to prosper, change, and linger. In honor of Girl Scouts’ upcoming 110th birthday on March 12th, we talked about dreams, female empowerment, and self-care. Read on to learn about Jinga, an awesome STEM educator, lifelong Girl Scout, and fellow #womxninprogress.

Emily: “My favorite job is honestly what I do now!”

In college, Emily intentionally majored in Biology, and mere curiosity translated to a Psychology minor, on her advisor’s thoughtful suggestion. I remember trying to recruit Emily to join my alma mater, Ripon College, due to one of my organizations partnering with Girl Scouts, but she found home at nearby Lawrence University where it “felt right.” With hands-on experimenting available in small settings from her first year on, this was radically different than typical Intro to Bio lectures, so I can’t say I blame her for choosing nearby Lawrence.

Kaylie: “Give yourself time to identify what you really want.”

As womxn passionate about learning, making decisions requires trusting intuition. Even if listening to your gut takes time. While Emily’s last position brought camp-like joys of working directly with kids, she was at a crossroads: either go back to school herself to earn a specified education certification, or try something new. Emily took a risk and chose the latter. This resulted in an exploration of positions across the country, eventually landing her a role in New Hampshire.

Emily: “The pandemic has shown me that you will end up where you’re meant to, regardless of what you think you want.”

Let’s break that down: the pandemic HAS served some. For me, time by and for myself led to my current position at an independent school in Colorado. For Emily? Time allowed for mindful self-work, too. All the better that Emily’s passion is helping girls learn how to learn, including the value of self-advocacy, as she is now the Learn Through Play Program Instructor at White Mountain Science Incorporated: “My role seamlessly integrates my teaching philosophy of child-led, explorative learning with STEM education! I get to write lesson plans, connect with students all over northern New Hampshire, and am encouraged to continue learning and growing as an educator!”

Kaylie: “When faced with change, the gut knows.”

If you’ve been on my website, you may know that my “GRACE” posts have spoken on the “Intuition” aspect of my INFJ personality. After years of focusing on logic, my intuition has helped me make on-brand changes in Colorado, like practicing writing through these very #womxninprogress spotlights. Emily herself has learned to trust her gut. She lives alone, save for a few potted creatures she’s adopted as Plant Aunt. Jinga’s open-minded to new learnings from New Hampshire, as well: “I hope that I continue to work towards increasing access to experiential STEM-focused education, but who knows where life will take me!”

Emily: “I think a lot of people in helping professions need to hear, ‘do unto yourself as you would do for others.'”

How awesome is that phrase, “do unto yourself”? I, for one, needed to hear that. The best way to practice social care is to give yourself care first, respecting boundaries, capacities, and social-emotional dynamics. It’s why I have borrowed the airplane phrase, “put your own oxygen mask on first.” I know I am a #workinprogress in this endeavor, so I have been working on affirmations, like the one below:

Kaylie: “The best work connects mind, spirit, and heart.”

Volunteering can be an easy, Covid-conscious way to meet other like-minded folks. For example, Emily’s an alto singer at a choir. I’m a web writer and an editor on Fiverr. While she’s a volunteer at a museum, I serve at Denver’s film fest. Even with life’s changes, both Jinga and I are finding ways to use our skills, feel the feelings, and have fun. I am trying to not tie my worth to my work, but projects with external benefits can bring joy. That’s one reason why scouting still has such an important role in both Emily’s and my life. In fact, you’ll be amongst the first to know: we are coordinating a virtual CAC Millennial Meetup, 6 months from now. While we are currently on the idea stage, we have the date, in honor of what will be Girl Scouts’ half birthday!

Join us (Emily/Jinga and Kaylie/Sunshine) on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at Noon Central for a CAC Millennial Meetup!

Please write a comment here or join the Facebook Event to save the date. We’ll sing a camp song or 5, play games, and get (re)connected! Nationally, we’re on different sides of the country, but Jinga and I chose the time so that our friends abroad can also hopefully attend, too. This virtual gathering is open to CAC friends who served in mid 2000s-present. Jinga, I’m so glad Camp Alice Chester brought us together, but our connections of loving education, self-care, and Girl Scouts have helped us stay together, albeit virtually for now. Peace out, Girl Scout.