[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.
[00:00:11] Sheryl: Welcome to hearts of gold today. We have Sarah with us. Hi, Sarah. Hi, how are you doing?
[00:00:17] Sarah: I’m great.
[00:00:18] Sheryl: Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us about your Girl Scout Gold Award project?
[00:00:23] Sarah: I focused on iron deficiency and athletes, and I wanted to spread awareness to coaches and parents around my community.
[00:00:33] And it’s very common for female athletes to have iron deficiency. Up to 35 percent of female athletes may experience this. Condition. It’s often overlooked in doctors. So something that I wanted to bring awareness onto my community. So I worked with a doctor as my advisor, as well as nutritionists and coaches and my track coach.
[00:00:59] I run track and I used to play soccer. He actually brought up The issue why he was like, you’re slowing down. You look fatigued in your workouts. And I was like, okay. And he recommended that I get my iron tested. So I got my iron tested and that. What’s the issue? And I did some research and I’m like, wow, this is super prevalent.
[00:01:20] And when I was thinking about my gold award, I was like, this is something that I really want to bring awareness to girls, not just athletes too, but specifically athletes.
[00:01:31] Sheryl: As part of your project, you created an infographic. And I have iron deficiency also, and that infographic really explained to me what some of my challenges are.
[00:01:44] How did you design that?
[00:01:46] Sarah: I use Canva, a source where you put together photos and words, and you can use templates. And it was actually pretty easy. I came in with. Or I came into some issues with it, sometimes adding all the words because there’s just so much information that you want to include and show people, but you kind of need to pull out the key information.
[00:02:09] And that’s what I did in the graphic. So, yeah, and I also made a video about a 10 minute long video that. Also explained what was in my infographic and I used some models like a, a car to show how you’re kind of running down.
[00:02:24] Sheryl: Who helped you with the research and the technical aspects?
[00:02:28] Sarah: I would, account that to my mother.
[00:02:31] She’s very good with Technical things. So she helped me a lot with that, but I did a majority of the research and I researched online and there was a doctor, Dr. Peter peeling. He’s from Australia. And he had this whole article with information about iron deficiency and I email him and he was like, well, Once I finished my Goldworth I showed him the research that I did and put together.
[00:02:59] And he was like, wow, this is amazing. So I have connections to people now in Australia from the project. Just super cool.
[00:03:06] Sheryl: Who else was on your team and how did they help you?
[00:03:09] Sarah: My mother was a big person. My advisor was a doctor. She’s my aunt. She’s she’s a doctor and also a marathoner and she does ultra marathons and iron man.
[00:03:21] So, and she has also experienced iron deficiency. So that hit her close to home. But yes, so my mother, my aunt. My coach, he helped me a lot. And. Yeah, just people that helped me in athletics.
[00:03:38] Sheryl: You mentioned your coach noticed you slowing down and raised the potential of iron deficiency with you. What are some things that athletes or people in general can look for?
[00:03:52] What are clues to know that maybe iron is something that they should go talk to their doctor about?
[00:03:58] Sarah: , Definitely, if you’re feeling fatigued all the time lightheaded losing concentration in school, if you stand up and your vision goes black, that’s definitely a sign maybe of iron deficiency.
[00:04:10] So I would definitely go get that checked out because I know a lot of people that are like when I stand up, I’m, I should be seeing correctly. So, and definitely if you’re an athlete not even if you’re not experiencing those symptoms, you should still get your iron checked. Just for future, just to check it and see if everything’s okay.
[00:04:30] Sheryl: If you find that you do have an iron deficiency, what are some of the solutions that a provider may suggest for you?
[00:04:38] Sarah: For me, my provider told me to look into supplements and eating iron rich foods like heme. And he told me about heme and non heme iron, which is Heme iron is iron with the iron that comes from meat sources and non heme iron that comes from vegetables like spinach and leafy plants.
[00:05:00] So diet is a main one and supplements. So eating is definitely big. And if you’re a vegetarian and you’re not getting that heme iron, you definitely have to eat more non heme iron sources.
[00:05:12] Sheryl: What was the thing that surprised you the most while you were working on your project?
[00:05:17] Sarah: I created a website kind of just to share my, my findings more.
[00:05:22] Cause I actually, in my initial plan, I didn’t have a website or something that I wanted to do. I just wanted to send it out to people. But after realizing that I have to contact a lot more people, I think putting my information all in one place. I figured that’d be the easiest thing to do. So from there I created a website and I’ve never created a website before.
[00:05:46] And that was a challenge that I’ve that I worked on and overcame. Also working on the video. I worked on a site called doodly and from there you put in your audio and you put in your fun pictures. And I had to record the audio a few times just cause it. Didn’t match up with the pictures or things like that.
[00:06:09] So overcoming those challenges were difficult and very time consuming. I didn’t realize my project would take us, it took over 200 hours. So there were lots of pieces and parts that definitely had to.
[00:06:23] Sheryl: What kind of feedback have you received from the public?
[00:06:26] Sarah: I went to a summer camp with three to 400 athletes that run track and In the presentation and some of the presentations, they talked about iron deficiency and I talked to the camp director and he brought up my infographic and my website.
[00:06:46] So people could visit that. Also for my track program at my school we have a lot of athletes. We have a pretty big and 1 track program in the area. So And they always have a parent and athlete manual that you read at the beginning of each season. And in there, it includes my website and things that you should look for during the season with hiring.
[00:07:14] Sheryl: What did you learn about the Gold Award process that you didn’t know and may be helpful for future Gold Award candidates?
[00:07:21] Sarah: That is very time consuming, and if you carve out the time, You can do it. You just have to be persistent. And if you’re really passionate about something which I was, or which I am very passionate about informing others about this issue, it’s very rewarding at the end receiving your award.
[00:07:40] And then also, to this day, it’s only been a few months since I received my award, but I’m still getting feedback and I’m, you know, Still talking to doctors. Like when I go to doctor’s offices, my mom, when I get my iron tested, my mom’s like, Oh yeah, check out my daughter’s website. About iron deficiency.
[00:08:00] Sheryl: What did you learn about yourself that you didn’t know before you did your gold award project?
[00:08:05] Sarah: Once I put my mind to something, I can do it. A few years ago, I’ve been in Girl Scouts for 13 years since it all started. And when I was in elementary school and middle school, it’s like, well, the gold, gold award, like, that is crazy.
[00:08:20] I don’t think I can do it. That’s so many hours. And now I’ve attacked the attack, the gold word. And I’ve got it done and I feel accomplished and it’s something that I’m really proud of. What are your plans for the future? I have a few months left of high school and I’m a senior in high school currently.
[00:08:39] I don’t know what college I’m going to yet, but I definitely want to run and contacting college coaches. I sent out my website and I heard a lot of feedback from them as well. That’s another source that I heard back from. And they told me how in college and. Many programs, their athletes also have to get iron tested just to be on the team and make sure they’re safe while running.
[00:09:05] But my plans for the future, I don’t know what college I want to go to yet. I know I want to run and I want to study something in the health profession.
[00:09:13] Sheryl: And I would expect that your Gold Award project, besides earning the title Gold Award Girl Scout, your project itself. Is something that those coaches and those college that is, that you’re applying to when the, with the health connected interests, your project is going to help you stand out amongst, other students and you know, maybe give you that leg up.
[00:09:36] So that’s awesome. What other Girl Scout experiences have you had?
[00:09:40] Sarah: I’ve been doing it for 13 years, so a long time. And my troop has been very big from the start, it gets smaller and smaller. But now my group is a tight knit of girls. And most everyone in my troop has gotten their gold award. And we all kind of work together and helps each other complete our projects, which I thought that was pretty cool or is pretty cool.
[00:10:05] But I’ve done amazing things in Girl Scouts. During elementary school, we went to the aquarium and we slept in front of sharks, which I thought was, that’s pretty cool. And things that I probably wouldn’t have done just on my own or, you know, and other groups going camping. We’ve done that and going canoeing and going to summer camps over the summer and teaching younger girls things.
[00:10:33] Another thing that I want to say related to my Gold Award project not just creating the information, but I worked with younger Girl Scouts to teach them a class about making our enriched foods and cooking, because I’m also passionate about cooking. So that was something that I just really enjoyed and something that I found I put one, another one of my passions into my project.
[00:11:00] Sheryl: What’s one of your favorite recipes?
[00:11:02] Sarah: We made simple recipes just because they were younger Girl Scouts, but we made little sushis with not with real raw fish, but with like turkey and spinach, spinach wraps, spinach tortillas, just because. Also smoothies with spinach and citrus so oranges, fun fact you can increase iron absorption up to six times with citrus with you take your iron supplements or eat spinach or foods like that with citrus.
[00:11:37] Sheryl: What do you think has kept you in Girl Scouts all the way through your senior year of high school?
[00:11:41] Sarah: Probably my troop leader, we call her Ms. Carrie, but my troop leader and the girls in my group definitely she makes all the lessons super fun and she lets us choose what we want to do and she just makes it about us and our experience in Girl Scouts.
[00:12:01] Sheryl: What else would you like to share with the audience?
[00:12:03] Sarah: If you’re in the process or in the midst of thinking about getting your gold award Girl Scout gold award, you can do it. You just need to carve out some time and if you put your mind to do it, you can, you can achieve great things and go for the gold.
[00:12:19] Sheryl: How do you make your s’mores?
[00:12:21] Sarah: At Girl Scout camp, I usually find a stick in the woods and I, I get a s’more and I usually burn it. I stick it in, like let it on fire and then blow it out. And I love my s’mores with a Reese’s cup and some graham crackers.
[00:12:39] Sheryl: Well thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:12:42] Sarah: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:12:44] Sheryl: Make sure to click follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released, power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:12:54] Walter: Thank you for listening. If you’d like to be on the show to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com.
[00:13:05] Be sure to catch up on our previous shows on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, as well as view the full video versions at youtube.com/SherylMRobinson. Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you next time.