What did you do for your Gold Award?
When starting this project, I did not really have a great idea of what I wanted to do or what was needed in my community. This soon was not a problem as I began to take a political science class through my school. This political science class was all about talking about what was going on in the world around you and why it was happening, as well as why it was a problem. This class got me very interested in one topic: sexual assault.
Sexual assault in more recent years has been talked about all over the news and brought up, but not really talked about. When talking about all the sexual assault cases that had occurred in recent years and how much I truly did not know about the topic in general, it got me thinking. If I did not know all these things, chances are young adults my age probably did not either. So, I decided to complete my Gold Award Project on this topic. I got together with detectives/ victims’ advocates to get accurate and sensitive information and I created a website and video going over the options and process people have when they go in to make a report. I think it was an important topic and project and I believe people got a lot out of my project.
How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience?
At my event I spoke about many different aspects of my project that I believed were important. I gave some facts and then I had people fill out my survey. My survey was designed to be filled out before and after people watched my video and included questions that I discussed in my video. This was to get an idea of how much people knew before they watched my video and how much they knew after to get an idea of how much people learned.
How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement?
My project will be sustained beyond my involvement through my old high school health teacher. She has agreed to work my video into her curriculum to teach these young adults, taking health, about sexual assault. I think a health class is the perfect place to show my video, as well as a high school. It will get these young adults aware of sexual assault and hopefully talking about the topic.
I thought that a high school would be the perfect setting to be the place where my project lives past my involvement. The first perfect part is that high school is full of young adults, which is the targeted age of my project. I thought that the age group that really needed to learn about my project the most were high school/ college age students, so by taking place in high school this takes care of that part. The second part that I thought would be perfect is that in high school news travels fast. You hear something in class, and you go and tell a friend, then suddenly a chain is created. Hopefully by default, this will also happen with my project.
What is your projects global and/ or national connection?
I have reached out too many organizations out of state that show a global part to my project. I made a website where I included my video, different statistics, and resources for people to go to make a report. I shared this website online through many different people as well as social media sites. Also, on my website I have a comment section where people can get on and tell me where they are viewing my website from. This helps me to show me how far my website is making it across the country. I have already gotten many responses from places like Idaho, Georgia, Ohio, and Indiana. I plan to keep sharing my website to continue reaching many places around the United States.
What did you learn about yourself?
Throughout this process I grew, in the form of being more assertive and demanding of what I needed to get done. As my project began to wrap up, I noticed that people were not responding and I was not getting things done on my timeline, as they needed to be. I began to become more vocal with what I wanted/ needed to complete my project on time.
I also grew in the form of being more confident in my public speaking skills, and even talking to people I did not know. Before this project and even a little into this project, I was very shy. I did not like to talk to people I did not know on the phone, or even in person but this very quickly changed. From meeting people in person like the detectives and my mentor to talking on the phone with people I needed help from I became more comfortable in my ability. I also became more comfortable with public speaking. I still very much do not like it, but my project definitely helped in the form of pushing me outside my comfort zone, due to the initial proposal and my event.
How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future?
Earning my Gold Award will greatly impact me in the future in the form of being more motivated and self-sufficient. Throughout this project, I had to be very self-dependent to be able to finish my project. There was no one holding my hand or telling me what needed to be done, so I had to improve my time management and ability to self-motivate.
Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience?
Girl Scouts was a huge impact in my life, but earning the Gold Award was very important to my time in Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts has taught me some very important lessons, but the Gold Award allowed me to draw on personal experience and hands on learning. It led me to be self-motivated as well as independent, which will help me greatly later in life.
How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L?
The Gold Award helped me be a go-getter because before starting this project, I lacked the ability to really go after things I wanted. After my project, I became very motivated and gained the ability to become social with what I wanted.
**IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog represents only a small fraction of the hard work, dedication, and requirements that go into earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. It is simply a brief summary, which is meant to inspire Girl Scouts to Go Gold in the future. For more information on earning your Gold Award, please email highestawards@gscolorado.org.