[00:00:00] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:00:14] Sheryl: Welcome to hearts of gold today. I have Julie with us. Hi, Julie.
[00:00:19] Julie: Hello. How are you?
[00:00:20] Sheryl: Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:24] Julie: I aim to simultaneously devise a solution to volunteer disengagement amongst youth volunteers in Fort bend county in Houston and reduce Fort bend county in Houston, middle school and high school students in securities about choosing a college major and career.
[00:00:38] And to do that, I hosted a series of virtual volunteer fairs that highlighted 35 unique volunteer driven organizations that offer a variety of opportunities. In several career fields and a variety of opportunities for several different interests I created and launched a website that allowed participants to continually access the fair and other resources and began recruiting, interested participants for two additional youth professional development programs.
[00:01:03] I created called operation. Get to work at the gear to volunteer council. How did you, you come up with your idea? I had two different motivations. One motivation came from just seeing the impacts of. Of disengagement, volunteering, disengagement on volunteering organizations that I was a particular supporter of, for example, there is an organization called second mile mission here in my hometown that I would frequent to go and volunteer.
[00:01:31] And there was one time I remember seeing volunteers about my. Who had basically positioned themselves beside we for second mile, we would typically pack food. It was a, it was a food bank. So we would pack food at that would then be delivered to recipients in need. And during one of my volunteering sessions, I saw two volunteers about my age, who had basically hidden themselves behind some of the crates of food to basically just avoid working.
[00:01:57] And just ensure that they could get their volunteer hours without having to do anything. And it just saddened me knowing how much their actions would impact the organization and defract from their ability to really provide for their, their cus, their clients in need. And I just thought that I could definitely think of a few ways that
[00:02:17] could. Mitigate that problem. Firstly, by ensuring that volunteer organizations would find volunteers who are interested in supporting their missions and are willing and eager to support their missions and also trying to help volunteers who didn’t feel particularly motivated to participate in certain volunteer activities, helping them find work that more aligned with their interests and career or interests particularly so that they wouldn’t feel so.
[00:02:44] Or they wouldn’t be so disengaged in what they’re doing as a volunteer. So that was one of the sparks that I had for my project. Another spark came from my own personal struggles with finding narrowing down a college major, finding a career path that suited me. That was quite the process. Ms. Robinson. I will, I will say I don’t think I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
[00:03:07] And exactly what I wanted to be until I was maybe in my, in the spring of my senior year of high school. And a lot of that came from just not having an opportunity to try out various career fields that I was interested in. You know, not a lot of companies are interested in taking on high school students or middle school students, but those hands on activities and hands on experiences are really what allow us to.
[00:03:32] Figure out what we like, what we don’t like and really narrow down our college major and career choices. And one, one actual. Activity that I did see myself being exposed to a lot of different experiences, a lot of different opportunities through a lot of different like career development opportunities being exposed to a lot of different career fields was through volunteering.
[00:03:52] There’s so many organizations that offer so many different types of work from marketing to. To counseling, to education, to even like engineering and those opportunities were, I feel like very being very underutilized by, by my peers. So I just thought if I could connect my peers. With opportunities that align with their interests that align with their career goals, or that allow them to explore different career fields so they could figure out what their true career interests were, would be the perfect way of kind of solving or addressing their disengagement with the volunteer op, opportunities they currently know about while also allowing them to really explore themselves.
[00:04:33] And. Figure out what they wanted in a career or figure out what they were interested in.
[00:04:39] Sheryl: I love that. And when I saw your project, I think that that’s what really piqued my interest is your approach to it. When I mentor gold award girls working on their gold award, you know, I, I similar concept like, first of all, make sure you find a project that you’re passionate about because it’s.
[00:04:56] If you’re, if you’re just doing something, because someone says here, why don’t you do this? You’re not gonna have as much engagement and anticipation on completing the gold award, but also the skills that you can earn through the gold award process. It really helps you learn and understand what you do enjoy and what you don’t enjoy to help.
[00:05:14] Drive that, that path. And I, I, I really love the career connection that you made with volunteering because, you know, we, we, we have a limited amount of time. Let’s let’s let’s compliment our different activities and create multiple goals out of those same activities while we’re still reaching the outcomes.
[00:05:33] You know, I, that, that was the part that really intrigued me about your project. Do you have some special stories from your project to share?
[00:05:41] Julie: One was a, a successful connection. I was able to make between one of the attendees who attended my fair. I was able to put him in direct contact. With an organization that he was interested in, he was interested in, I believe doing some sports, volunteering, sports coaching referee
[00:05:57] and I was able to connect him directly to the, the like volunteer director or the program leader for a. A sports organization, a sports volunteer, a sports organization that was in need of youth volunteers. And that just abol- that felt absolutely wonderful. Another, another thing that came outta my gold award that I absolutely loved was I was actually featured in the newspaper for my Alma man matter, which was really wonderful.
[00:06:22] It was so cool to be, to see my project be recognized in that way.
[00:06:25] Sheryl: What was a challenge you faced during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:06:29] Julie: Actually, the biggest challenge that I faced during my project was myself. It took me about. Two years to finish my gold award. I began in about, I think like spring of 2018.
[00:06:39] And I only finished in winter of 2020, just a few, a few days before the deadline. And a lot of what caused me to procrastinate and to delay working on my project were just. When I look back on it now in the moment, I think I told myself, oh, I’m just busy. I’m a junior in high school, or I’m a junior in high school.
[00:06:56] I’m a senior in high school. I have so much going on. I just, this project is secondary to all of that. But when I look back on it and really consider what I was actually feeling, I think I had a lot of doubts and insecurities about my project. I wondered if I, I think underlying; at the base of everything. I question myself like, could I even do this?
[00:07:14] Is this project even good enough to go through with and just not wanting to face the reality or face the chance of having something that I loved and cared about so much be rejected outside of my head was something that really caused me to procrastinate and to really push my back. And what helped me get over myself really was just the wonderful team that I have.
[00:07:37] My parents. My gold award advisor, my gold award mentor, who were just so encouraging. So so embracing of my crazy idea, so embracing of my vision and they were really just. Committed to pushing me forward, pushing me past myself, myself, and my doubts, and giving me as much guidance and as many resources as I needed to move forward.
[00:07:59] Sheryl: At the beginning you mentioned how your project has also involved into a couple of other opportunities that you’ve become aware of what is going on with those opportunities. Now, who is supporting you in those in continuing those opportunities?
[00:08:12] Julie: So the two additional programs I created were operation get to work, which is a, supposed to be a career exploration program for middle schoolers.
[00:08:20] And the gear to volunteer council, which was going to be a board of high school volunteers that would individually and collaboratively engage in the web design, artistic design, marketing, and outreach programming, and project management needed to sustain the mission of my project and basically to stage more volunteer fairs for years to come.
[00:08:37] I will say that those projects haven’t taken. Haven’t quite taken off in the way that I would’ve liked for them to, but I will say that I did really implement them very close to the end of my gold award journey. So I don’t think I gave them enough enough time, enough, enough time and enough resources to develop.
[00:08:57] I didn’t advertise them, advertise them as well as I could have. I didn’t really devote as much of my focus as I should have to those, to those projects. But if I did have a chance to kind of revive them there were some, there were a few interested participants, but just not enough to create two sustaining projects with.
[00:09:14] So I, I kind of had to let them go, but if there was interest, if there is a revival in interest, I would be so excited to bring them back.
[00:09:20] Sheryl: I love the explanation that you gave of all the people that you would’ve needed involved in order for those projects to really continue to roll forward and become sustainable.
[00:09:31] A lot of times. When girls are working on their gold award, they don’t understand how important it is to pull in those other people and bring, make them part of your team. Not just to support the project at the time that you’re working on it, but into the future. How would you have maybe have done that slightly differently?
[00:09:48] Julie: I would’ve definitely tried. To host the volunteer fairs earlier so that I would’ve had more time to devote, to really launching the two additional programs that I really wanted to implement. I think I would’ve done more because I was able to connect through my gold award mentor. I was able to connect to a lot of middle school and high school students in my district who I, so I definitely did have a group of students who would’ve, if not been interested, who would’ve at least been able to help with those programs.
[00:10:18] So I just really wish that I had given myself a little bit more time to get to know them.
[00:10:22] Sheryl: And looking at your website, you had a lot of great partners. How did you connect with those partners and bring them into the process?
[00:10:30] Julie: The best partnerships I made was with my gold award mentor, who was actually the college and career readiness counselor at my high school, which was a, a very, a very beneficial.
[00:10:40] Partnership to make. She was also, she’s also just the sweetest person ever. She was so lovely. And so, so, so invested in my success, it was, it was lovely working under her or working under her guidance, working under her advice. She was the one who basically, once I created my flyers, once I knew the details of what I wanted to do, I sent her my flyer and she released it to the entire district.
[00:11:03] And that alone brought in about 86 participants who were interested in attending the fair I believe about 37 appeared in total. So just, just under half, just under half or just about half, but she was instrumental in really getting into the, in, in really releasing my, the information about my fair to the community and getting that information out.
[00:11:26] So that was one partnership that was so beneficial, so, so helpful. My gold award advisor was equally sweet and equally helpful. She just gave me such excellent encouragement. She gave me ideas of people who I could, again, reach out to who I can make connections with. And I think those two
[00:11:45] partners were really the collaborate. Those were collaborations that really allowed me to scale my project and allowed it to reach the level that I had hoped it would reach and was super excited to see it reach.
[00:11:57] Sheryl: You created a volunteer project. I believe part of that is based in the fact that you do a lot of volunteering and have that interest.
[00:12:06] You mentioned some of your volunteer experience earlier. What other volunteering experience do you have?
[00:12:12] Julie: In high school I was a youth basketball coach. I was also a volunteer at the children’s museum of Houston. I volunteered through girl Scouts quite a lot. I did face painting at Y M C a events, which was, I, I love that.
[00:12:24] I love, I used to love doing that. I volunteered as a camp invention leadership intern. I, I was a board member on the girl Scouts of Sangen council health initiated or healthy initiative planning board. I think those are the bulk of my volunteer opportunities. There are probably a few more that I’ve done through perhaps national honor society or.
[00:12:44] Other organizations, but I had a, a wonderful volunteer career in high school and which really exposed me to different people, to different opportunities, to different skills, or allowed me to build different skills. It was volunteering was definitely trans transformative. And definitely influenced who I become and all the skills that I I have today.
[00:13:06] Sheryl: With part of your project, it was connecting skills that you learned during volunteering to help you determine your future.
[00:13:12] What sorts of things have you found while you’re volunteering that have up till this point directed where you are right now?
[00:13:19] Julie: A discovery squad volunteer for the children museum of Houston, or even as a youth basketball coach. Those, I think simply gave me just like leadership skills, public speaking skills, communication skills that were just generally helpful to, to me.
[00:13:32] Or just general skills that, that are helpful. I believe to that, that are helpful to anybody. Some of the, some of the other opportunities, for example, serving as like a camp invention leadership intern. We’re definitely a bit more specific to what I do now. For that opportunity. I helped. I was basically like a cam counselor and I helped kindergarten and first grade students through work with techno work with various techno technological instruments and lead them through various techno, lead them through various technological experiments, such as dismantling like old electronic devices and putting together rudimentary, rudimentary alarm circuits.
[00:14:08] And that is definitely very relevant to what I’m doing today as an a biomedical engineer. I actually just took A circuit class that definitely did parallel some of the circuits that I saw quite a few years back, I think in all facets from allowing me to develop general soft skills that are just useful to anybody to allow me to, to see certain.
[00:14:31] Applications of in career fields that would, I didn’t know then, but would definitely be relevant to what I’m doing now. Volunteering has helped me definitely gain a solid skillset.
[00:14:41] Sheryl: One thing, many girl Scouts councils do is they have different various boards where they have the girls the advisors to the council on.
[00:14:49] How to improve or how to change with the health advisory health initiative board that you were on. Can you tell us what that experience was like, what you got out of it and what kinds of things that you as a board member gave back to council?
[00:15:03] Julie: One of the events that we staged was an event where we talked about nutrition, exercise for attendees.
[00:15:11] We had stations that talked about like good eating habits. Stations have talked about the importance of exercise. I believe we, there was a 5k walk run that we also held during that time. And afterwards the girls were given tickets to go and watch the rice women’s basketball team play. So that was one of the events that we held and we through that board didn’t really, I, I, I don’t wanna say we didn’t give back to the council, but a lot of what we did.
[00:15:39] Was creating and planning events for the benefit of girl Scouts in the area who would come and attend these programs. I definitely will say, I think we perhaps contributed new ways of thinking about events, new ways of, of addressing certain issues for the board. Perhaps we, we did, perhaps we did generate a boom of good ideas that they could have later carried out.
[00:16:00] But for the most part, it was so fun being a part, a member of that board, because I got to plan and execute events that I knew would benefit girl Scouts like me. So it was, it was a great experience.
[00:16:12] Sheryl: What other girl scout experiences have you had?
[00:16:14] Julie: Traveling with girl scout destinations to Panama Costa Rica for the scuba and sea turtle adventure Destination.
[00:16:22] I think that that event was just kind of pivotal to my, my development into a, a young woman, I guess. I know that sounds very cliche, but it, I think that experience taught me a lot. I helped me mature quite a bit, taught me a lot about independence, allowed me to really think about what I wanted out of life, who I wanted to be, how I wanted to carry myself.
[00:16:49] And of course I had, I got to do amazing things. Like I earned my scuba diving certificate. My now is super scuba diving certification there. I helped with conservation efforts. I got to like, we got to release and we got to release baby sea turtles to the ocean. And it was so fun and they were so cute. It was just a lovely experience that changed me, I think fundamentally as a person, but also allow, gave me so many opportunities to do so many cool and exciting things that I definitely would not have gotten anywhere else.
[00:17:18] Sheryl: And as a destination, you traveled without your parents or known other known adults, what was that experience like to travel internationally on basically on your own?
[00:17:29] Julie: It was absolutely crazy. I think the only experience I had really had away from home before that was perhaps like one to two day camping trips away from home.
[00:17:40] And, you know, those were just, weekend trips. I was never too far away to where if I, I did feel bad or I did need I felt like I did need that. My parents, I was never too far away to where I couldn’t have them. And I, of course had adults that knew and trusted around me. So going to a new country having only had those experiences was definitely a bit scary.
[00:18:03] I remember being super excited months and months before the day came and then the day came and I was like, oh wow, I’m really doing this. I am really doing this then getting there and just really. Once we really started diving into our activities, getting to know each other. I was absolutely enamored.
[00:18:21] Homesickness was very soon a thing of the past. I was fully enjoying myself in the moment. And it was just one, it was wonderful. It was wonderful. The staff was all very embracing. They were all very kind. The fellow, my fellow participants were just a pleasure to be around. It was a really wonderful experience.
[00:18:39] So if there are any girls who are listening, who have considered destinations that are just a bit hesitant who are a bit scared to apply for reason similar to mine, please, please do apply. Please do apply. And please do go. You will have a wonderful time. I guarantee it.
[00:18:52] Sheryl: And if money is a concern, because destinations can look expensive, councils often have financial support or have other suggestions for support to help you reach that too, because I agree I’ve, I’ve chaperone some destinations and they are
[00:19:08] unbelievable experiences, local community organizations, like the lions clubs and things like that. They really wanna support youth in those kinds of activities too. So there’s, there’s lots of resources out there, but when you first look at destinations, they can,
[00:19:22] they can look a little over the top, but they’re so worth it.
[00:19:26] Julie: Absolutely, absolutely.
[00:19:28] Sheryl: So you are currently a student at duke university. Can you tell us why you chose duke and what your experience is like?
[00:19:35] Julie: Confession, I hope none of my, my duke teachers or duke peers see this, I did not initially want to go to duke I, I there were a few other schools that I had gotten into that I thought would be for me, but just, it was just through research.
[00:19:51] A lot of, I, I went through a lot of college blogs, a lot of forums trying to, to. To find the best fit for me. And it was just after doing that research it, duke was a clear winner. Duke just gave, there are just so many opportunities at this school. Oh, it’s insane. There’s so there’s almost a club for every interest you could possibly have.
[00:20:10] There’s there’s somebody who, when coming here, I just knew that I could find whatever I was interested in. I, I did find there was going to be something, somebody. Doing something that aligned with my, that whatever interest that I had.
[00:20:24] Sheryl: I visited the campus a year ago and it is, oh my goodness. So beautiful.
[00:20:29] So beautiful.
[00:20:30] Julie: There have been days where I have been leaving just tough classes, midterms, and I’m like, ah, I’m, I’ll be so frustrated or stressed. And I just walk outside and look around and I’m like, Beautiful. And I just completely completely escape those negative thoughts. It’s it’s gorgeous.
[00:20:46] Sheryl: So what is in your future?
[00:20:48] Julie: I think I came into my sophomore year thinking, you know, oh, I know exactly what I want to do. I want to do this. And then I actually spent my freshman year off campus. So now being on campus, I’ve had a lot more opportunity to explore the resources that duke has. Explore all of the different like fields and disciplines that duke resources offer.
[00:21:08] And I have with, with that exploration, I’ve been like, huh, maybe I don’t want to do what I said I really wanted to do. However, I do know that I’d like to explore. Quite a lot of careers. I think in my lifetime, I’m really interested in the moment in immuno engineering. So I’m majoring in bioengineer, biomedical engineering.
[00:21:28] I’m super interested in immuno engineering, chemistry and biology intensive facets and sides of biomedical engineering. I’m also very interested in extended reality, like virtual reality engineering, augmented reality, reality engineering. So that’s a field that I’d really love to explore as well.
[00:21:44] Sheryl: Is there anything that I haven’t asked you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:21:48] Julie: My final words would just be words of encouragement for anybody listening. All the girls Scouts, listening, who are basically still working on their gold award projects, thinking about starting their go to gold award projects, go for it. Your ideas. I your ideas. I, I don’t even have to know what they are.
[00:22:04] I can already guarantee that they’re worth it, that they’re worthy and that they’re going to create real lasting changes in our world. If you’re feeling hesitant. Like I had been, if you’re feeling doubts, like I had definitely been pushed past them, listen to the, listen to the voices of people around you, who encourage you.
[00:22:23] And really just go for it.
[00:22:24] Sheryl: How do you make your smores?
[00:22:26] Julie: So I loved making my smores with thanks a lots. So instead of using Graham crackers and Cho like Hershey chocolate bars, I would just use like two, thanks A lots, marshmallows in between and call it a day. That’s how my troop did it. I had been devastated by the recent discontinuation of thanks, lots.
[00:22:43] So sad. I’m still reeling. I’m still reeling. I can’t believe that they’re gone. I don’t know how I’m going to make my smores going forward, but , but that was my strategy for a very long time.
[00:22:56] Sheryl: I missed the thanks lot also. I thought they were the best like teacher gift and things like that. Well, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:23:02] Julie: Thank you for having me. This has been so wonderful.
[00:23:05] Sheryl: Make sure to click, follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released and don’t forget to power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:23:17] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the walter media productions.
[00:23:24] Thank you for listening and spreading the word on what we do. If you want to share your story of how you earned your goal award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com. Be sure to listen to the newest episodes on your favorite podcast app, as well as view the full video episodes on youtube.com/SherylMrobinson.
[00:23:45] That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.