[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 Cydney with us. Hi Cydney!
[00:00:19] Cydney: Hi Sheryl!
[00:00:20] Sheryl: Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:23] Cydney: I brought middle school and high school girls together to talk about topics like self body image. Self-love the differences between healthy and toxic relationships and healthy communication.
[00:00:35] I created a mentoring program. Project good, which stands for girls overcome obstacles daily. And I thought it’d be a great way for girls to just connect um especially during the pandemic. When I created it, I always wanted a space where I could connect with people outside of my school and inside of my school, who wanted to talk about these topics, but I never had that kind of space.
[00:00:55] Sheryl: What girls did you work with and how did you identify the group that you chose?
[00:01:00] Cydney: So I worked with middle school and high school girls. I chose girls who. Thought they’d benefit from the program and wanted to do it with me. I kind of. Sent out an email. I’m from girls in my school. And I also DM’d people on Instagram and made a poll to see who’d be interested in being a part of the program.
[00:01:19] Sheryl: Did you have any challenges collaborating with your school in order to get the program off the ground?
[00:01:25] Cydney: The biggest challenges was reaching out to people. So what I did, I made some flyers. I used social media, my mentor at the time. Was the Dean of students at my school. So she helped me to get in touch with different heads of schools so that they could send, share the flyers with other students at the school.
[00:01:42] And that really helped to get more girls interested and know about the program.
[00:01:46] Sheryl: What types of self-care and coping skills did you teach to these girls?
[00:01:51] Cydney: I talked about how it was really important to communicate your feelings with people that you were talking about. I talked about how it’s important to write down all the things that bring you joy so that you can go back to that later.
[00:02:04] It talks about gratitude practices and how it’s important to just know what you have. So you feel more content with those things. First started the program because I wasn’t doing so great with my mental health at the beginning of the, of 2020, so February and I took a girl scout workshop, and I was the only girl who attended, which is really interesting cause they have the same program the night before and all the girls attended that one, but it was called the who I am workshop.
[00:02:31] And I learned so much about how my opinion is who I am basically. And I shouldn’t care so much about how other people think of me when the pandemic happened. It was really just like isolation. So it wasn’t really. Connecting with people as much as I used to. And I had to really think about what I was doing, how my body looked or anything like that.
[00:02:53] And I knew that other girls were probably feeling those same things too. So after the workshop and we one of the things that we did during the workshop was. Got a piece of paper and we wrote all of the af- positive affirmations about ourselves on it. And I still have it in my door today. And it really just reminds me all the things I love about myself.
[00:03:12] And I really wanted other girls to be a part of the program and understand how they could love themselves too. So one of the projects we did during the program was we all had our own like Google slide presentation, and we put all the things that we liked, things who made us, who we are how we.
[00:03:30] Known because a lot of times you think that you’re known for the things that people know you for, but it’s really important how you want to be known so that you can make the right image for yourself instead of always relying on how other people view you.
[00:03:44] Sheryl: What kind of feedback did you get from the girls that attended your presentation?
[00:03:48] Cydney: It’s nice to know that other people are going through the same things as you. It’s really nice to have a space where you can share all your feelings, because I know for me, I felt like there was no place outside of school that I could just be myself, but to have a space where other girls are going through the same things as you, and they actually care about how you’re doing and want to see you do better on the week after um you me, it’s just really.
[00:04:12] To know that you have a place to connect that outside of your school.
[00:04:15] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:04:18] Cydney: Getting in contact with other schools and things like that. And just by talking to my mentor and seeing how she, her experience and connecting with other people could help me.
[00:04:28] Sheryl: Do you have a special memory from your project to share?
[00:04:31] Cydney: One guest speaker, her name was Diana Grew. And she was a fitness guru and also a teacher. And she taught us about like her experience and things that she learned growing up. And how, at the, like in the larger scheme of things, the people who you’re in the hallways with or call you mean names, are say things about you, they’re not going to be with you for the rest of your life.
[00:04:56] So just to put things in perspective and not. Think about those things too much, because later on they’ll change.
[00:05:04] Sheryl: How did you find your speakers and your other team members and how did those other team members impact your project?
[00:05:10] Cydney: I found most of my speakers through my sister and my just, I guess, adults in my school community.
[00:05:18] Another speaker. That we had was actually um the wife of the diversity equity and inclusion person at my school. So that was really helpful. And the fitness guru I just mentioned that she worked with my sister previously. So that’s how I found her. And then with my team members was really just girls in my school community who were interested in helping other girls.
[00:05:39] Sheryl: What did you learn about the gold award process that you didn’t know before? That might be helpful to somebody else?
[00:05:46] Cydney: It’s not as intimidating as you think it is. I think when I was first starting out, I was kind of nervous because people won’t uh least the leaders in my, and my troop made it seem very scary to start.
[00:05:58] But after joining a zoom where they were talking about the gold award, it became more attainable. And then I just think something to remember is just to always take pictures. And too, as you’re going, or as you’re doing your project, just to take notes cause it makes it so much easier to like create your final project and the goal gold-
[00:06:17] I think it’s called the go gold website where you like put everything in. It’s really easy to use. That’s good too.
[00:06:23] Sheryl: And it’s a good place to put those notes too.
[00:06:26] Cydney: Definitely.
[00:06:27] Sheryl: You are also a poet Laureate. Can you tell us about that?
[00:06:31] Cydney: I guess it kind of goes in with my gold award project. And when I started thinking about wanting to do this project and connecting with other girls.
[00:06:39] I just learn more about myself and my self-esteem kind of went up as well. So once I felt more confident about myself and my skills, I decided to apply to a bunch of different competitions and contests and literary magazines. And then in August I found out that I was a finalist to be the youth poet Laureate of Philadelphia.
[00:07:02] And then I did an interview. The past poet Laureate and the current poet laureate at the time Yolanda wisher and Trapeta Mason. And then. Late August. I found out that I became the youth poet Laureate of Philadelphia, and the application process was basically talking about community service, submitting different poems that I had written and thinking about a project that I’d want to embark on in my time as youth poet Laureate being youth poet laureate
[00:07:30] basically means being the youth ambassador of poetry in the city of Philadelphia. So I got to go into different schools and talk about poetry, how I became a poet when I started first started writing poetry. And it was, I think the best part about it was that I got to kind of tell kids my story and inspire them to write poetry as well.
[00:07:52] Because for me I had different people telling me different things like, oh, You write poetry all the time or, oh, like just saying easy things that will ruffle my feathers, I guess, and make me really upset that I write poetry all the time, but it’s. Things that you really like doing that are worth pursuing.
[00:08:14] And I think it doesn’t really matter what other people are thinking or saying about you or thinking about you. Because at the end of the day, you’re the one who gets to do all the fun things that you want to do with your passion.
[00:08:24] Sheryl: What has being a representative of Philadelphia been like, what experiences have you had?
[00:08:31] Cydney: One of the best experiences for me was performing at Philadelphia museum of art. It was really fun because. After a long period of time of doing lots of events on zoom, I was able to perform it in front of a lot of different people and I’d be on stage with ma with the mayor and in the audience for council members too.
[00:08:54] So it was really exciting. And then I really just enjoyed writing that poem because it was a poem I wrote specifically for the re-imagining of the museum. And I got to take a private tour of the museum and see a different artworks that were going to be kind of featured in my poem. And I really just enjoyed writing that poem.
[00:09:14] Cause I, when I get into like the state of flow and I’m riding outside and all of the rhymes and things start coming together, it just feels really nice.
[00:09:23] Sheryl: Do you have any tips for anybody that might want to become a poet or a writer in our audience?
[00:09:30] Cydney: Just write, write as much as you can. A lot of people told me that it’s really important to read other works.
[00:09:36] I think that really helps. If you want to be inspired by other authors and poets, and then just really write down your thoughts, don’t worry so much about making it perfect. Don’t worry so much about making it rhyme. You can. Do that in the revision process, but it’s really important just to get your thoughts down on the paper and.
[00:09:55] Even if you don’t share it with anyone, it’s nice to know that you’re able to process your own emotions and feelings.
[00:10:01] Sheryl: You are also a published author. Can you tell us about your book?
[00:10:05] Cydney: So this is my book daydreaming. It’s split into four different categories. Co-existing with the world, uplifting my blackness.
[00:10:14] Thinking about you and thoughts floating in my head. And my sister did the illustrations for the book. I had been compiling a lot of these poems since seventh grade, and then I published it in June of 2020, and my sister has helped me as well. And it really goes through just my journey through middle school and high school.
[00:10:38] How it was being a black girl in a predominantly white institution. Different social justice issues that really made me think about the world differently. And I kind of wanted to urge people to think about what the part they play in the world and how, if you’re not doing anything about something you’re actually adding to the, the destruction.
[00:10:58] So it’s really important to take action and to let people know how you feel about certain things.
[00:11:03] Sheryl: And we’ll have a link in the show notes to the book. What inspires you to compile and publish a book?
[00:11:09] Cydney: I love writing poetry and I really wanted to share that with other people. I know that. A lot of people when I share my poetry some people are moved by it and I wanted to be able to share that with more people and kind of just inspire young girls to follow their dreams and to do what makes them happy.
[00:11:30] Since fifth grade I’ve identified as a poet. And I think you don’t have to wait for someone to call you a poet, to be a poet. You just have to name it and write poetry, and then you’re a poet. So. I always wanted to publish a book and just having the opportunity to do that during the pandemic and to partner with my sister to make it as well.
[00:11:50] It’s just really great.
[00:11:51] Sheryl: What challenges did you face trying to publish a book?
[00:11:54] Cydney: Finding different avenues to selling it and being able to market it. I’m still learning new ways to market myself and my book. And it’s really about trial and error and just trying different things. More specifically, I think.
[00:12:10] When I was starting. To compile all the poems together, just like picking which ones were the strongest and which ones maybe I shouldn’t include in the book. The main thing with that is usually just hearing what my family has to say and how they think my poems sound. Cause they’re a really big part of how I know when the poem is done or when I think it’s ready to share.
[00:12:32] Sheryl: Do you have other girl scout experiences that you’d like to share?
[00:12:35] Cydney: More recently, my girl scout troop, and I went laser tagging and that was really fun. And we played like five rounds and I won one of them, which was really fun. And it just, it’s really an, I love my girls scout troop and I’ve been a girl scout since.
[00:12:50] And it’s always great to just connect with them and we meet every Thursday. So getting to know each other for so many years and grow so close to is just incredible. And then I think more privately for me is just selling girl scout cookies. I sold 2050 boxes this year and I was really happy about that.
[00:13:12] My goal, my original goal was to sell 3000, but I knew that if I aimed high, I do pretty well. So I really just marketed myself on social media. I sent a lot of emails. I did a lot of booths too, and it was all to help me fund for my trip to Northern Italy this summer. I said, destination trip. Yeah. So it was my girl scout destination trip to Northern Italy.
[00:13:33] Sheryl: I haven’t been to Northern Italy, but I’ve been to Italy and, oh my goodness. I would go back every year if I could. What else is in your future?
[00:13:42] Cydney: At Northwestern university, I’ll be studying communication. And I’m really excited to, I think, just branch out and try a new thing and go to a different place and learn something new and meet new people.
[00:13:58] Sheryl: Is there anything I haven’t asked you that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:14:02] Cydney: If you’re thinking about earning the gold award you should just go for it and. If you need help or any direction, you can literally email me at, cydtalks@gmail.com or you can DM me on Instagram. I’m really happy to help because I think it’s just an incredible community of girls that you build after you owned your gold award.
[00:14:23] And also the process of earning your gold really makes you learn so much about yourself and how you can make an impact. I really learned that no matter what I do or how. Or anything I set my mind to, I can accomplish. So I really recommend that many girls go and earn their gold award.
[00:14:45] Sheryl: How do you make your smores?
[00:14:47] Cydney: Making sure that the marshmallow was like on fire and that it’s burned so that the insides are really gooey.
[00:14:52] Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining us today.
[00:14:54] Cydney: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:14:56] 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.
[00:15:10] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:15:16] 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. 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.
[00:15:37] That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care, and we’ll see you next time.