[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.
[00:00:13] Sheryl: Welcome to hearts of gold. Today. We have Kaia with us. Hi Kaia.
[00:00:20] Kaia: Hi.
[00:00:20] Sheryl: Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:24] Kaia: Yes I definitely can. I did my, gold award, girl scout, gold award on mindfulness and meditation especially for teens and young adults, because last year the pandemic was going on and it was just a crazy time.
[00:00:42] And I felt like mostly teenagers in high school. Well, young adults were significantly impacted because there was a lot of stress and, they couldn’t go to school and see their friends. And I think it was a time where there were those lots of anxiety and stress, and I want to teach them how they can relieve this stress.
[00:01:07] Sheryl: You created a website to support your project. Can you tell us about designing the website?
[00:01:12] Kaia: Designing the website was relatively simple. I worked with my advisor to create the website and we met every week to create this. And I was really wanting to get it done because I wanted people to see how important mindfulness and meditation is because.
[00:01:39] If you really, in the moment, you can really relieve yourself of stress.
[00:01:45] Sheryl: Who is your project advisor, and how did you connect with them?
[00:01:48] Kaia: She’s a good friend of mine. Her name is Michelle and I met with her online, what every Saturday to work on the project. And she also helped me work on. The paperwork, because there was a lot of paperwork that had to be done online and there was so many complex steps that are part of it.
[00:02:19] It’s insane.
[00:02:21] Sheryl: So what kind of things did Michelle help you with?
[00:02:24] Kaia: Design the websites like help finding different pictures, resources. That I could add to the website and make it interactive for people too like, you have to include every single type of the way people learn. And I thought that having gained more interactive with, be a better option.
[00:02:49] Sheryl: Your website is beautiful. How did you pick the color theme?
[00:02:53] Kaia: I thought the purple layout when pretty well and especially that the background to each site, especially for the pages, each page for the heading, I thought it went really well with it.
[00:03:10] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project?
[00:03:13] Kaia: You had to get all the hours done and they expect so much from it hearing back from the council to also take the while.
[00:03:24] I know there’s another girl in my trip. Who’s also doing first unless hers got accepted by the council yet, but it really takes a while to hear back from them. And once you do, they, they tell you if you can, what you need to work on, or if they thought that it was good enough to earn.
[00:03:53] Sheryl: Those who have not gone through a gold award process, really don’t understand the work that goes into it.
[00:03:59] It’s not just the project itself, but it’s the planning and it is the reporting back and answering to the council committee on what you have done with your work.
[00:04:12] Kaia: Well, you have hear from them twice because you have to submit the initial report. Which is all the paperwork at the beginning. And then you can start actually working on the project, which it takes a long time to be able to get those hours and to everybody out there who’s working on the gold award.
[00:04:39] It’s gonna take a while, but once you do it, you’ll be surprised. It really is a big accomplishment.
[00:04:49] Sheryl: It is a huge accomplishment. What is your favorite memory from your gold award project?
[00:04:56] Kaia: Talking to the people who I worked with, especially one person in particular that has helped me. That is my golf coach, because he inspired me to start working on.
[00:05:12] Initially gonna do it on how often teens spend on their phones, because I see everybody these days on their phones and I didn’t know that many people that this mindfulness and meditation. So I, and then I, during a golf lesson, I talked to him and he thought I should go ahead with doing it. Teens and young adults, especially with mindfulness and meditation.
[00:05:44] Sheryl: I was just speaking with one of my friends this morning because they make fun of me because I say I don’t do mindfulness and meditation. And. In the conversation today, I said, but I walked outside and the sunrise was so beautiful this morning with the moon and the real, it was really dark where the moon still was.
[00:06:02] And then we had that just Stripe of the orange, where the sun was just coming up. And I just stood there and looked at it for a couple of minutes and she may find me. She goes, Sheryl, that’s you practice mindfulness and meditation. You just have to find those little chunks.
[00:06:19] Kaia: You did you really do.
[00:06:21] Sheryl: Who else helped you with your project?
[00:06:23] Kaia: A bunch of people that collaborated with, to. No, they’re different techniques on how they do my, how they practice mindfulness and meditation. And they’re all really unique. Something for everybody. Yeah. It’s something for everybody. Even if you’re new to it, you can still learn to practice it. Even if it’s just a walk outside or looking at the sunset, it doesn’t matter.
[00:06:55] Sheryl: What other girl scout experiences have you had?
[00:06:58] Kaia: I’ve done my bronze award, I’ve done my silver award and I’ve done all three awards. And I’m pretty proud of myself for that. I don’t really remember what I did for my bronze award but I can’t remember what I did for my silver award because when I was still living in new york We were trying to volunteer someplace and they, there was a certain age restriction and I wanted to create something that volunteerism, it don’t have to limit it.
[00:07:34] It can be for everybody and that everyone should be able to volunteer. It’s just really important to help the community in any way you can.
[00:07:46] Sheryl: What was it like moving between middle school and high school and having to change troupes?
[00:07:51] Kaia: Initially, it was really hard to find the troup here. And then I found this one troupe who, the troupe leader is amazing.
[00:08:02] She’s loved. She has a lot of energy and it’s really nice to be around.
[00:08:09] Sheryl: Do you have a favorite girl scout memory?
[00:08:11] Kaia: I believe 2017 when we went to Ohio the ghost gal convention. That was a fun experience because I have never done anything outside of the state. And I got to meet different girls, girls from.
[00:08:30] Out of state and also internationally. And I got to learn new songs, everything, and what they do differently, where they live versus where here in Seattle, where I live.
[00:08:48] Sheryl: Columbus was a really magical convention.
[00:08:51] Kaia: It really was.
[00:08:53] Sheryl: What would you say to girls that are considering going to conventions in the future?
[00:08:57] What should they consider and should they go?
[00:09:00] Kaia: A troupe should be able to go to conventions because you get to meet new friends. You get to listen to people speak. And during that convention, I heard. We listened to Hillary Clinton’s daughter speak. That was a really unique experience. And also hap, listening to Angelica Hale singing.
[00:09:30] That was also incredible because she’d been on America’s got talent and she was the runner-up I got her autograph. That was awesome. \
[00:09:41] Sheryl: It’s amazing, the people that they bring in for convention and how personable they’re willing to talk to you. It’s it’s really, really nice.
[00:09:49] Kaia: It is. I enjoy that.
[00:09:52] Sheryl: Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:09:55] Kaia: One organization that’s really helped me, especially with my mental health. And that is the first year greater Seattle, because when I did go in the program, I did teen in high school. It was a really great experience to have really nice coaches and they were positive and willing to help. Yeah.
[00:10:24] Sheryl: How do you make your smores?
[00:10:26] Kaia: I would like to have the little bit of crunch to them. It is, and sometimes I do burn them, but it really nice to have them burnt.
[00:10:38] Sheryl: Thanks for joining us.
[00:10:39] Kaia: Thank you for having me.
[00:10:41] Sheryl: Make 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.
[00:10:54] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions. Thank you for listening and spreading the word on what we do. If you want to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com.
[00:11:12] 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.
