Walter: [00:00:00] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and shared network, produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:00:13] Sheryl: [00:00:13] Welcome to hearts of gold. Today. We have Sierra with us, hi Sierra.
[00:00:18] Sierra: [00:00:18] Hello.
[00:00:19] Sheryl: [00:00:19] Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:23] Sierra: [00:00:23] Yes, for my girl scout gold award project, I decided. That I was going to create onesies for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. What I did was I created a pattern and I cut those out and sewed them.
[00:00:37] And basically the outfits were so that infants in the NICU were able to have these outfits that allowed doctors to not only have easy access to any wires or medical equipment that they needed to get to. But also, so parents had something. So that they were comforted while their child was getting care.
[00:00:56]This was also because a lot of times, if an infant is in the NICU and they pass away, they don’t have any clothing that their parents can take home with them so that they can bury them or lay them to rest in. And so I wanted to do something special so that these parents had kind of a memento to hold on to.
[00:01:15] Sheryl: [00:01:15] Who inspired your project?
[00:01:17] Sierra: [00:01:17] My little brother actually inspired my project when he was born. He was sent into the neonatal intensive care unit and he was there for actually two months. He was born at 36 weeks and he could not wear normal clothing because he had feeding tubes. He had heart monitors, he had a cooling cap and many other medical equipment.
[00:01:38] So whenever they put actual newborn onesies on him, they weren’t able to keep them on for very long. So there was a group in Texas that also did these onesies that gave one to my mother. And that kind of just sparked my inspiration for this project.
[00:01:54] Sheryl: [00:01:54] Can you share how your onesies are different than a normal onesy?
[00:01:58]Sierra: [00:01:58] Instead of clasping, just at the bottom with a regular metal clasp.
[00:02:02] They meet together at the shoulders in the center and at the bottom and they’re Velcro. So whenever a doctor needs to go and either open it up or anything, it’s very quick access and it gives full body access to the entire room.
[00:02:17] Sheryl: [00:02:17] How did you partner with hospitals to distribute your onesies?
[00:02:20] Sierra: [00:02:20] I actually met with the Hardin County hospital.
[00:02:24]I went in and I asked them if they would be interested in getting these onesies, if that was something that they were willing to accept as a donation. And they were actually very excited and they were very happy to hear about my project.
[00:02:38] Sheryl: [00:02:38] What is one thing you wish you could change about your project?
[00:02:41] Sierra: [00:02:41] Definitely would have been to not only start working on it a lot sooner. As we happen to meet with COVID 19, in the beginning of my project, it kind of put a real damper on things. I had to work on a lot of my project myself, but I also would’ve started sooner. That way I could have worked out all of the kinks in the project that didn’t make it very easy.
[00:03:06] Like I had to redo the entire Pattern of the onesies, because the original pattern that we had worked out, actually wasn’t working so well once we finally got sewing together and everything.
[00:03:16] Sheryl: [00:03:16] Who was on your team?
[00:03:18] Sierra: [00:03:18] Actually it just kind of included me and my parents, me and my mom and my dad. We all worked together to try to figure this out.
[00:03:25] I also had my project advisor Christy Huffer. She helped me with some of the sewing and some of kind of putting it all together because she is more of an expert in selling than I am. And then I also had a help from Teesha Rivera. She helped me write some of my proposal and some of my final drafts and helped me really get that turned in at the very end.
[00:03:46] Sheryl: [00:03:46] What did you learn about the gold award proposal as you went through it that you didn’t know before?
[00:03:50] Sierra: [00:03:50] How detailed it actually had to be when I was in school, I always kind of got straight to the point. I was very quick to write a one to two word answers or one to two sentence answers on my things, because I was always, it’s easier to just write it than to add all the fluff, but in the girl scout gold award, they definitely do want you to add that fluff in there and those details and I think that was one thing I really struggled.
[00:04:15] Sheryl: [00:04:15] What are you most proud of, or what’s a special memory from your project?
[00:04:18] Sierra: [00:04:18] Actually completing the project. I struggle a lot with procrastination and getting things done once I get them started.
[00:04:26]I get frustrated very easily when things don’t work my way, or if something ends up coming up and causing issues. So actually getting the project finished was a big moment for me to be proud of myself, that I actually worked through it and was able to. Finish something without like giving up on it.
[00:04:45] Sheryl: [00:04:45] Do you have any tips or tricks or things that you did that you could share to encourage others?
[00:04:50] Sierra: [00:04:50] If they’re struggling with that same procrastination or lack of motivation, sometimes getting a different view. Always taking a step back and looking at what you’ve gotten done, or even asking somebody for help. I would ask my mom what she thought I should do.
[00:05:07] We would always look back on ideas and try to figure out the best course of action. Sometimes when your head’s stuck in that project, you don’t get to always see. All the things that are going on around you, you don’t really have that bird’s eye view, but when you take a step back and you get an opinion from somebody else, you can kind of problem solve a little bit better.
[00:05:28] Sheryl: [00:05:28] What other girl scout experiences have you had?
[00:05:30] Sierra: [00:05:30] I’ve been in girl Scouts since I was in kindergarten, so I’ve kind of done it my entire life through about the fifth to my senior year in high school, fifth grade to my senior year in high school. My mom was my girl scout troop leader. So I was kind of the second in command when it came to the girls and everything.
[00:05:52] I was always kind of the leader and helping out and trying to get projects put together and meeting set up. And girl scout, cookie booths filled and just kind of working with the girl Scouts.
[00:06:06] Sheryl: [00:06:06] Having a mom as a leader is a two-edged sword. It’s it’s really, really nice because you get all of the extra attention, but you also get a lot of additional responsibility.
[00:06:17] Sierra: [00:06:17] Well, she, she treated every single one of those girls. Like they were her daughters because. She really cared about all of us individually. And I definitely was the Guinea pig for a lot of her projects and for a lot of her arts and crafts, but it was a lot of fun having her as my leader.
[00:06:35] Sheryl: [00:06:35] Did you do bronze or silver projects and if so, what did you do?
[00:06:38] Sierra: [00:06:38] For my bronze award, I did a coat drive in the middle of winter. We had a Homeless shelter that was accepting donations. So I set up a a box at my school, me and a couple other girls, and we all collected coats and gave them to the homeless shelter. And then for my silver award, my brother who went to occupational and physical therapy at I can’t remember the name of the building.
[00:07:05] Kid’s spot in Elizabeth town, I went and their waiting room actually was just a room full of chairs and a bland wall. So I went in and I painted a few more murals for them. I made some benches and I even made a little play area for the kids to be able to enjoy while they waited for their therapy appointments.
[00:07:25] Sheryl: [00:07:25] Since you did do all three highest awards, what advice would you give to other girls as they progress and are considering doing some or all of the awards?
[00:07:35] Sierra: [00:07:35] Definitely look close to home when it comes to finding your project, she’ll find a lot of ideas around some of the things that you enjoy. Always look out for things that are in need.
[00:07:46] Listen out for projects that your school might be wanting to take part in, just kind of keep an eye out for things that you think need to get done around your community, because that will always kick start something great. And something that will lead to that global link.
[00:08:03] Sheryl: [00:08:03] What other activities are you involved in?
[00:08:05] Sierra: [00:08:05] I’m currently a freshman in college at WKU. I’m pursuing my bachelor’s in fine arts. And then I want to minor in education and become an art teacher. And that’s taking up a lot of my time right now.
[00:08:18] Sheryl: [00:08:18] What else did you do in high school?
[00:08:19] Sierra: [00:08:19] I was a part of the art club in high school. I was also a part of the game club. And then I did girl Scouts. Mostly. Those are the things that took up a lot of my time.
[00:08:30] Sheryl: [00:08:30] And I saw a note somewhere that in middle school, you are also a member of the football team.
[00:08:34] Sierra: [00:08:34] Yes, I did do football for two years in middle school. It was kind of my experiment and I enjoyed doing sports when I was younger and that was one sport that I had never played before. So I thought, why not give it a chance?
[00:08:46] Sheryl: [00:08:46] Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:08:49] Sierra: [00:08:49] Don’t give up just because things get hard. You will always run into a bump or you’ll always find something that’ll make you want to give up, but being able to push past that or being able to find a way around whatever is hard for you, or whatever’s difficult, will make it 10 times worth it.
[00:09:09] When you get the project finished or whatever you’re doing finished. No matter what, being able to say that you completed something, even though you had a hard time, is. Such an amazing feeling. And it is so inspiring to other people because not, not everybody talks about the hard things that they go through, but when you find out that what they went that whatever they were working on, wasn’t easy and that they had some bumps in the road and that you’re, you might be going through the same thing.
[00:09:43] It really just makes you want to work. That much harder so that other people can look at you and be inspired by your work.
[00:09:50] Sheryl: [00:09:50] How do you make your smores?
[00:09:51] Sierra: [00:09:51] We make ourselves a little differently. We have a recipe where we put Graham crackers in the bottom of a pan, and then we’ll put chocolate chip cookies on top of that chocolate chip cookie dough.
[00:10:04] And then we’ll put. Hershey bars on top of that and some marshmallows, and we’ll toss that in the oven forever, ever long, the cookie dough says, and when you pull it out, you have this amazing smores cookie altogether.
[00:10:17] Sheryl: [00:10:17] That sounds delicious.
[00:10:19] Sierra: [00:10:19] It was our favorite way of making smores for our girl scout meetings.
[00:10:23] Sheryl: [00:10:23] Well, thanks for joining us today.
[00:10:24] Sierra: [00:10:24] Thank you for having me.
[00:10:26] Sheryl: [00:10:26] Sure. To click, subscribe or follow. So you always know when new episodes are released and don’t forget to. Power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:10:38] Walter: [00:10:38] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network, produced by off the Walter media production.
[00:10:45] 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 grow and share@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/ SherylMR obinson. That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.
