Wilder Neff: Lessons of Girl Scout Cookie Sales
Photos by Tonya Tacla Photography
Girl Scout season is over for one Lodi high school student, but the skills she’s learned during the past years will stay with her forever. “I have sold Girl Scout cookies since the age of five,” shared Wilder Neff, a 17-year-old senior who attends Aspire Benjamin Holt College Preparatory Academy in Stockton. “I think I’ve sold about 9,057 packages of cookies. Until 2021, I was sharing sales with my sister.”
Selling Girl Scout cookies has taught her volumes about sales and marketing. “I’ve learned to greet every possible customer, ask for the sale, perform quick math and how to communicate with people,” the Lodi native said. “I have also learned how to keep track of money, sales and potential customers for following years.” When she was younger, her mom helped design door hanger fliers for the neighborhoods and created spreadsheets to keep track of customers and sales. But Wilder soon took on more responsibility and built on her mom’s efforts. “On top of helping me, she organizes all the booth sales for my troop,” Wilder said. “Without her help, I don’t think my Girl Scout membership would have been as long as it has and the amount of cookies sales I’ve had would be much smaller.”
Her involvement in scouting has also taught her about perseverance. As a sophomore in high school, she wanted to quit and felt overwhelmed but she realized it had a big place in her life. “It has taught me so many things such as how to make friends, how to manage myself in unpredictable situations and how to be innovative and resourceful in everyday life,” she said. “I’m proud of myself for pushing through and learning to understand the value of Girl Scouts now that my time as a youth Girl Scout is ending.”
With high school graduation coming up, she now has her sights set on college; she’s planning a career in nursing that involves helping children. She hopes to attend the University of California, Irvine, to pursue a bachelor of science degree in biological sciences and become a registered nurse. “While I’m there, I hope to be involved with my community, whether that is through the honors college, campus clubs or internships.” She intends to use her education to pursue a career in nursing either as an intensive care unit nurse or pediatric nurse. “My interest in nursing has been informed by my passion for caring for others,” she explained. “This passion has rubbed off onto my hobbies. I picked up crocheting two years ago and I’ve used my hobby to create plushies to sell and donate to my school’s crochet club for children’s hospitals.”
Wilder said her biggest mentor and cheerleader is her mom, who has been a big help with Wilder’s cookie sales and her academic success. “She is always there to push me to do things I don’t have the motivation to do, such as harder classes, scholarship applications and applications for difficult colleges,” she said. Wilder said her parents’ decision to send her to a small charter school with a specific focus has allowed her to have the resources required to develop the intelligence and grit to apply to and be accepted into some very competitive universities. “If I had gone into a bigger high school with less of a focus on college, I’m not sure if I could have achieved this level of academic success,” Wilder said.
Wilder has a great future ahead and a firm foundation with lots of support from her family, friends and her cookie customers who will no doubt miss her!
