Three years ago today, I attended my final Gold Award interview and received a certificate signed by the Girl Scouts of Connecticut Gold Award Committee, confirming that I officially completed the highest award in Girl Scouting. Last week, I published a post about the Girl Scout Gold Award. I talked about history of the award, what it takes to earn it, and what it means to have it. Today, in honor of my 3-year Gold Award anniversary, I want to talk about my Gold Award Journey in part 2 of my Gold Award blog post series.
Why I Got Gold
Earning my Gold Award was always something that I was going to do. As soon as I learned what it was, it was on my list of long-term goals. Girl Scouts was my “thing.” I wasn’t a star athlete. I wasn’t musically talented or artistic. I worked hard in school, but I didn’t excel. Girl Scouts was the place where I could exceed expectations and I could work toward projects and experiences that I was passionate about. I met all my best friends and greatest role models there. Girl Scouts made me feed strong, empowered and capable of anything I put my mind to. I wasn’t going to win any trophies or blue ribbons in any other part of my life, so I felt strongly that this was the achievement I needed to shoot for.
I also made the decision to attempt my Gold Award because Scouting was a constant in my life. I moved twice, growing up, and both times I re-registered for Girl Scouts. I couldn’t remember a time when I wasn’t actively involved. In the Summer of 2014, right before I submitted my Gold Award project idea to my council, my troop leader was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Our meetings stopped, the trips we planned got cancelled, and I didn’t see my troop leader for months. This abrupt break in my Girl Scout routine, for such an upsetting and unfair reason, reaffirmed how much the organization and my Girl Scout family meant to me. This was when I officially decided to begin my Gold Award process. I did it for my troop leader, who has since gone into remission twice, and for the extracurricular that, until that summer, was always part of my life.
My (Long) Gold Award Process
As I said above, I began brainstorming ideas for my Gold Award in the Summer of 2014, when I was sixteen and going into my junior year of high school. I did not officially earn my Gold Award until nearly two years later on March 24, 2016 and I wasn’t officially pinned until the following May.
Why did it take so long? Well, for one, planning, leading, and actually doing a 80+ hour service project is no small feat. I also did not anticipate the intensive amount of paperwork that goes into submitting an idea, proposing a project and writing up a final report, along with a lot of roadblocks and speed bumps to navigate.
I spent the summer of 2014 brainstorming and I came up with the idea of building a community garden at my local food bank and starting an initiative to get local gardeners to donate their extra produce instead of throwing it away. The Gold Award committee loved this idea when I submitted it in the fall, but when I proposed it to the food bank they had a few problems:
There were too many liabilities for the food bank to support a community garden on site.
The location of the food bank is at the site of a chemical spill, so the tap water and soil there could not sustain a garden.
The director of the food bank felt that many of the users would not be receptive to the addition of fresh produce, nor would they have the resources they needed to utilize it.
So, I went back to the drawing board. I was matched with a mentor from the Gold Award Committee who met with me several times and helped me restructure my idea and submit a proposal by March, 2015. My proposal was approved in April, and then I began my project.
My new idea was to focus on creating an awareness campaign for the lack of fresh and locally sourced produce at the food bank. I did this through my local newspaper, flyers in public places around my town, and word of mouth. I also added an educational factor to my project for the users of the food bank as they received different produce. Part of this involved tabling at the food bank every week. I passed out recipe packets filled with easy meals and snacks to make with the local produce. I also distributed small potted herbs, so that food bank users could begin their own “gardens” even if they didn’t have the time or resources to grow fruits and veggies. I kept up with both of these pieces throughout all of Summer 2015.
There were times when the food bank gave me confusing messages about what they wanted from me, first telling me to stop advertising the need for produce and to be there for shorter times, but later telling me I wasn’t doing enough and they needed more produce to distribute. This was something I navigated with the help of my mentor and my troop leader. They helped me come up with ways to move forward with other parts of my project while confirming what the food bank needed from me.
In October, I held a harvest luncheon for everyone who was a part of my project including food bank users and staff, local gardeners and my Girl Scout family. Everyone brought food made with local produce and we combined all the collected recipes into one full booklet that is kept by the food bank and available to anyone who needs it.
After the luncheon, I reached a stopping point for my project and began writing my final report, which I submitted in early January of 2016. Shortly after that, the Gold Award Committee scheduled my interview (the one that happened three years ago, today).
After earning my Gold Award, my family and my troop threw me a pinning ceremony to which I invited local government officials, my Gold Award mentor, and all my friends and family. It was a really emotional time because it meant the end of a long journey, not just for my Gold Award but also my time in Girl Scouting. It meant so much to me that I pushed myself to complete my project and it meant more to me that I could celebrate it with my favorite people.
What Getting Gold Did for Me
It taught me a lot about how to communicate and work with others. The administrative staff at the food bank weren’t always clear with what they wanted. There were times I felt unneeded and there were times I was told I was doing the wrong thing. I learned to roll with the punches and adapt when needs and wants change.
It helped me build a relationship with my community. It also gave me a lifelong service connection with the food bank.
It taught me the value of perseverance. I wanted to quit more than a few times, but keeping with it gave me one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
It gave me scholarship money. I mentioned this in my last post, but I received additional merit-based financial aid from my college after earning Gold. I also received a local scholarship for the community service I did as part of my project.
It gave me a deeper connection with Girl Scouts - something that I will always cherish.
Thanks for reading my about my experience earning Gold. Sign up for updates to find out when I publish part 3 of this blog series about another Gold Awardee, who I met at Global Leadership Conference. Until next time!