[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 we have Evelyn with us. Hi Evelyn.
[00:00:18] Evelyn: Hi. Happy to be here.
[00:00:21] Sheryl: Glad to have you. Can you tell us about your Girl Scout Gold Award project?
[00:00:25] Evelyn: So, kind of the main driving force behind my project was young girls not really being exposed to STEM or engineering specifically during their developmental years.
[00:00:36] So like elementary, middle. School age. And then in order to kind of address that problem in my own community, I created a website about the six major branches of engineering. And then for each branch I gave information on what it was, what you would do if you chose a career in that branch. And then I also included interviews with.
[00:00:57] Female engineers working in that branch, kind of describing what they do day to day, just to give girls a little more information. And then in my opinion, the most exciting part is that for each branch I included two d i y engineering crafts projects or challenges that girls or anyone really can do at home to kind of further cement that interest in engineering.
[00:01:20] I guess the second prong of my project was community engagement. So the first part of that was I hosted two engineering workshops at nonprofit organizations in my community. So I used four kids and the Y M C A. And then for each of those workshops, I walked in, I gave a short presentation on the different branches of engineering, and then I brought all of the craft supplies so I could do some of my favorite.
[00:01:47] From the website with the kids, which was just so heartwarming. It was so nice to see them have so much fun with it. And then the second part of that community engagement was I partnered with a local K through 12 school and I provided them with a giant box of craft supplies and they agreed to. Do my crafts with their elementary and middle school age kids just to further expose them to engineering and then they would give them my website information so that they can further explore those interests at home.
[00:02:17] Sheryl: Can you share one of the favorite crafts that you created?
[00:02:20] Evelyn: I am currently studying electrical engineering, so I might be a little biased, but there was a craft where you build a lemon battery. And I don’t know why I just found that so interesting that you can make a battery out of lemons, some wires, pennies and and a nail
[00:02:39] But I think the favorite project among the kids was definitely the bottle rocket. Which I don’t blame them. That one was definitely the most exciting. It’s basically you take a bottle, you tape some pencils to it, flip it over to kind of make a base, and then inside you put baking soda and vinegar, plug it with a cork, and then it just explodes.
[00:03:01] So the kids definitely have a lot of fun with that one.
[00:03:04] Sheryl: We will share your website in our show notes. So if people are looking for those projects, that’s where they can find them.
[00:03:11] Evelyn: Each branch of engineering, if you scroll all the way down to the bottom, each branch has two related crafts that you can do with items just kind of laying around your house or a quick trip to Walmart.
[00:03:22] Sheryl: And when I saw your project in your website, I was so impressed by the, the descriptions you gave of those six fields and the stories from the women that you interviewed. How did that part come about?
[00:03:35] Evelyn: My mentor or someone on my gold team his name is Steve Webb. He was an absolute godsend. He is a working engineer.
[00:03:43] And he just went around to some female engineers in his company and did me such a big favor by personally asking them to agree to be interviewed for the. And all of them agreed and they gave such great, detailed answers to all of my questions and it was just so wonderful to have that resource and I really appreciate all of his help in getting that.
[00:04:07] Sheryl: Besides the guests that you had for your website, who else was on your team and how did they help you?
[00:04:12] Evelyn: Yeah, so my team was relatively small. It was mostly Steve Webb, as I mentioned before, was so instrumental in getting the female engineers on board. And then everyone else was just some other girls in my Girl Scout troop were so helpful in helping me run the workshops.
[00:04:29] Because wrangling 20 something kids as we’re trying to, you know, not make a massive mess and make sure they understand everything that’s going on can be a bit of a challenge. So I was so grateful for all of their help in just keeping everything really nice and organized and giving me advice on how to design my website and what colors to use and all, everything like that.
[00:04:50] Sheryl: What inspired your project?
[00:04:52] Evelyn: When I was in middle school, I did not know what I wanted to study in the future or pursue as a career. I just had absolutely no idea. And then when I went to high school, I randomly stumbled upon this application to this engineering specialty program. It’s called a Project Lead the Way.
[00:05:09] I think it’s. Nationwide and I applied completely on a whim. Just I thought, just because I thought it’d be interesting. And then once I started actually taking the classes, I was like, whoa, this is actually so interesting. And I had just never really been exposed to engineering before that point. And so when I was brainstorming for my gold award, I realized that if I had had that exposure earlier, Maybe I would’ve considered engineering much earlier instead of stumbling into it going into high school.
[00:05:44] And on the other, other end of that, if I had never randomly applied to this engineering program, I might be doing something completely different with my life. So I think that was my main driving force behind it. Just like thinking about how important it is to have exposure to all of these things so kids can get a more full idea of what’s out there and what’s available for them to pursue, regardless of your gender.
[00:06:09] Sheryl: What’s a favorite memory from your project?
[00:06:11] Evelyn: I think the workshops, honestly, I I chose a project that I was really passionate about, which was a good thing cuz I would be spending so many hours on it. So I really did enjoy every part of it, like the research, filming the craft videos everything, the website design.
[00:06:27] But I think the workshops were just where I really got to see. The results and all of my hard work like come to fruition. Cuz I will admit I was very nervous before the workshops. I was like, oh, like what if they don’t like them? What if they did all this work? And they’re like, we don’t really like engineering.
[00:06:45] But it was just so sweet and wholesome to see the kids kind of be a little bit confused and uninterested at first. But then when I really got them into the crafts and into the hands-on engineering challenges. Projects, they got so much more into it and it was so sweet to see them compete, to see who could build the strongest clay boat or get so excited over who could make the biggest bottle Rocket explosion or Pop Rocks explosion.
[00:07:15] And yeah, that was just so incredibly like rewarding to.
[00:07:19] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
[00:07:22] Evelyn: My first project proposal was completely rejected by the council. I just, Yeah, like I turned it in. I got the email with my decision and sometimes they’ll say, oh, it’s rejected, but you just tweak a few little things and then resubmit it and you’re good.
[00:07:39] They were like, yeah, you can resubmit it if you change this, this, this, this, this, and it was basically my entire project. So I took that as a pretty strong indication. I needed to just scrap it and start completely over from scratch. And even though at the time it was kind of demoralizing and a little bit like frustrating and disappointing because the proposal does take a very long time to do it was honestly like the best thing the council could have possibly done for me originally my project.
[00:08:09] It wasn’t related to STEM or engineering at all, and it was just something I wasn’t as interested in. I was mildly interested, but I wasn’t super passionate about solving that issue in my community. And because I was kind of forced to completely start over, I ended up doing more research and kind of stumbling upon this project that now I am way more passionate about and so proud of what I was able to accomplish.
[00:08:36] Sheryl: Can you share perhaps some more insight on your experience with that rejection of that first proposal, what you learned from that and how your second proposal was stronger because of it? There are so many girl scouts that get frustrated when that first proposal isn’t in accepted on their first try.
[00:08:56] And I’d love to share some insight from you on that and how you felt.
[00:09:00] Evelyn: So I think my experience might be a bit different than other girls just because it kind of depends to what extent your proposal is rejected, whether it’s just a few extra things you need to fix or if it’s just completely start over.
[00:09:15] But I think something really important I learned when it came to my next proposal is that for my first project, I was the first girl in my troop to ever earn my gold award. So I kind of had no guidance. I was kind of running blinds. I didn’t really have anything to base my project or my proposal off of.
[00:09:34] I was just kind of winging it. and I just chose a project that I thought I would be interested in doing without first considering whether my community was really in need of that project, which I think was definitely just a big mental shift. So for my second project, I focused on the community need first and what I would do to address that need second, instead of kind of choosing a project and then trying to figure out an issue that the project would address and kind of working backwards.
[00:10:08] So I think it’s just so important. To maybe instead of focusing on what exactly you want to do, focus on what your community needs and then how you can address that issue in your community while also doing a project that really emphasizes your strengths and your interests and your passions. So yeah, it’s just, it’s definitely a balancing act, but I’m so much happier with how my second project has turned out.
[00:10:34] So I guess my advice would be don’t be discouraged. I know it sucks when your first project gets rejected, but take me, for example, I, my second project was so much more fulfilling and rewarding and it really will be a good thing in the end.
[00:10:50] Sheryl: That’s such helpful information. I say that quite often, but it’s, it’s different hearing it from someone who has gone through that process, so thank you for that.
[00:10:59] Can you tell us what other Girl Scout experiences you’ve had?
[00:11:02] Evelyn: My troupe was always pretty small, so I think that’s something I really loved about it. It was kind of a very tight-knit group of girls, especially as we got older and, you know, more girls just kind of stopped coming or decided that Girl Scouts wasn’t for them anymore.
[00:11:20] So by the time I got to junior Cadet Ambassador, it was a really, really tight-knit group of girls who all really were passionate about Girl Scouts and supported each other. And yeah, it was, it’s been a really great experience. Like some of my best friends I’ve met through Girl Scouts but I think.
[00:11:40] Probably other than my gold award, I’ve , I really have enjoyed cookie booth. Like I think sometimes it can feel like a bit of a chore, but if you are so close with all of the girls in your troupe, it’s just really fun to get to work with your best friends for a few hours. And kind of it’s so rewarding to kind of, you’re running your own small business in a way that can be really satisfying to.
[00:12:06] Sheryl: Your project is engineering base, and now you are pretty involved in the Society of Women Engineers or Swei. Can you tell us about that and how you connected with them?
[00:12:19] Evelyn: Yeah, so again, it was something I just kind of stumbled into. I went into college, not really sure what I would be wanting to do as an extracurricular.
[00:12:28] I know I really wanted to continue kind of doing the same amount of community service I did in high school, but I just wasn’t sure how that would come about or through what organization. And then when I came. Sweet. I at first joined just because it was for engineers and I thought it would be good to meet more people.
[00:12:48] But then through them I learned that they had this whole partnership with the Girl Scouts, where each semester they invite a huge group of local Girl Scouts. And essentially do my gold award project. They invite them all in and they do a little presentation on engineering and what’s possible with engineering, and then they split up into different rooms and rotate around doing different engineering crafts and projects and challenges.
[00:13:15] And when they told me about that, my jaw just dropped because I was like, this is exactly what I have done over the past year with my gold award. So this would be perfect. And I did my first workshop, I believe it was in early November of this past semester, and I wasn’t sure how it would differ from the workshops I did with my Gold award because this was a lot more girls.
[00:13:39] I think it was about a hundred and something when previously I had done workshops with only 20 to 30, but it was absolutely so much fun. Exactly. Same rewarding feeling that I got from my goal award project and I actually just applied to be in charge of the program for next year. So I think that’s something I see myself becoming a lot more involved in throughout the rest of my college experience.
[00:14:05] And again, it is just so rewarding to be able to kind of take what I’m passionate about and then give that back to young girls that may have not really discovered where their interests lie.
[00:14:17] Sheryl: Can you share where you go to school and what your plans are for the future?
[00:14:21] Evelyn: Currently I go to Princeton University and we don’t declare our majors until the end of this academic year, but currently I think I’m going to declare in electrical and computer engineering.
[00:14:32] I’m not sure if I’ll pursue a minor or not. Everything is still kind of, I’m, I’m very open-minded. I’m very open to everything just because I haven’t taken. In my opinion, I haven’t taken enough classes or explored enough things to kind of definitively decide exactly what I wanna do, which I am personally very.
[00:14:54] Very proud of that approach because I really stumbled into engineering when I was back in high school. So now that I’m in college, I don’t wanna be too rigid. I really want to like open my mind to any and every possibility. But yeah, for right now, I think electrical and computer engineering is what I wanna do.
[00:15:11] Sheryl: How do you make your s’mores.
[00:15:13] Evelyn: Ooh. I think this might be a little disappointing. My s’mores are a little basic. I do say I do like to set my marshmallow on fire. I know that’s a little controversial, , but I don’t burn it to a Crips. You catch it on fire and then immediately blow it out. So it’s a little crispy on the outside, but it’s still very marshmallowy on the inside.
[00:15:33] And then everything else I think is, is pretty standard.
[00:15:37] Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining us.
[00:15:39] Evelyn: Yeah, of course. Thank you for having me. This was so fun.
[00:15:42] Sheryl: Make sure to click follow or subscribe so you always know when new episodes are released, and power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:15:53] Walter: The Hearts of Gold Podcast is brought to you by the Grow and Share Network, produced by Off the Walter Media Productions.
[00:16:00] 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. That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.