[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 Tiara with us. Hi,
[00:00:18] Tiara: Hi! How are you?
[00:00:20] Sheryl: Great. Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:25] Tiara: It is someone for the sew and someone for the sew it started about when the pandemic started. And I was a junior in high school and my pageant advisor, Matilda Stephens, and my troop leaders from Pearl street, they were like, well, you’ve learned how to sew when I was in second grade, because we had done someone classes and we made
[00:00:50] Dresses out of pillow cases for a little girls there in Kenya, in the country, Kenya. And when they told me about that, you know, they’re like, you know, they’re just throwing ideas out there. And I was like, okay, well, What about t-shirt blankets and that’s when they’re like, that’s a good idea, you know, to get collect t-shirts from different people and make a t-shirt blanket out of it.
[00:01:18] And we were trying to figure out how we’ll promote that and you know, what audience. You know, doing it for, and we were doing a lot of research and we came across something about those who have dementia and Alzheimer’s, it was one research that said, there’s certain things such as smell, certain smells certian music, you know, different things of that nature that.
[00:01:45] Those who are, you know, in memory care that kind of brings back, you know, or jogs their memory. I looked up the different memory care places that are in the state of Mississippi. And there are in Hiens county and there’s one called Riggs Manor. And Raymond Mississippi, I contacted the supervisor that’s over the memory care department.
[00:02:06] And they were saying, you know, that was a great idea. So I collected their t-shirts from their loved ones. And when I say it was. It was like one of the most special moments that I’ve had ever done, mainly because when I started the t-shirt blankets and everything, it was a lot. I had to, I was basically sewing by hand.
[00:02:31] I didn’t use an actual sewing machine. I was selling by hand. I didn’t have a sewing machine by that time. And so to learn, you know, cut out the squares from the shirts and everything, I was like, all right, you know, it’s gonna take some time, but I pushed through, and it was worth it at the end, one of the patients, his wife.
[00:02:53] She sent me a letter and it just put tears in my eyes because it said thank you so much because I had one of his spun shirts on there and it had USM university of Southern Mississippi. Mascot on there, which is the golden Eagle. And she said that he remembered him playing football, and it was just a special moment.
[00:03:18] And each shirt that I had sewn onto the blanket had a story to tell one of the patients. She had a lot of country clubs shirts hey had them doing the dances and everything. And my mom and I were talking and she was like, she must’ve done a lot of dancing back in the day. And it was just a, it was a great project mainly because I did it by hand.
[00:03:45] And to also find these stories from these people, I was making these t-shirt blankets for.
[00:03:51] Sheryl: I can’t believe you made those by hand. I know how hard it is to make those, those blankets with a machine. What did you learn about yourself during the project?
[00:03:59] Tiara: When it comes to such a huge project with a project like that, especially making these huge blankets.
[00:04:06] I realized that I can’t procrastinate and I can’t be lazy. Especially when I make, you know, something, you know, such as, you know, spiritual as a t-shirt blankets for these family members. And when I say I worked all throughout the days and nights, I stayed up till two o’clock, three o’clock in the morning trying to sell those t-shirts on the blanket.
[00:04:31] And I learned that I can’t be lazy or procrastinate and just be like, oh, I’ll do it tomorrow. But through all of that, I realized that. This is something that is important, not just for me, but for those that I’m making it for. I realized that I’m doing a deed and it’s a deed that I think everybody should be able to do something to, you know, learn, learn a story from somebody that you haven’t met before.
[00:04:59] Sheryl: Who was on your team and how did you build your leadership?
[00:05:03] Tiara: The ladies at Pearl street church and pearl in Jackson, Mississippi. And they also helped out. They didn’t make t-shirt blankets. They just made like, you know, some quilts for the rest of the patients and Riggs manner. I contacted each and all of them I said, Hey, I’m making two t-shirt blankets.
[00:05:23] And I’d like for you all to make at least four for the other four patients that. In the memory care center. And when I say they did it, they, they did it. There’s someone club at the church and they taught me all, you know, things I needed to know about stolen from hand and you know, what all materials I needed.
[00:05:45] And so they, they helped me out a whole lot. And also I had church members from my own church in Mississippi to help out and donate materials that I needed to sell. My leadership skills, I gained that just by talking to other people who have sewn before, like I was saying earlier, and I learned that it takes patience when it comes to sewing and not just with anything, patience with everything that I’m doing in life, especially with me being a student journalist at school it’s you know, I have to learn patience.
[00:06:25] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project? And how did you overcome it?
[00:06:29] Tiara: Well, someone by hand was the biggest challenge. It really was mainly because when you sew by hand, you have. You have the needle and then the eye and theneedle, they’re like really, really small and it will be hard.
[00:06:44] I wear glasses. So it was hard sometimes to put the thread through the eye of the needle and then sometimes it will break while I was sewing and I would get so upset, but I still got the job done, but it was mainly just trying to, sew by hand and I would get pricked by the needle and the thread break. And that was the biggest challenge.
[00:07:09] Sheryl: You mentioned being a student journalist. Can you tell us more about that?
[00:07:13] Tiara: I major in radio television broadcast production and what we do we are, it’s a career technical field and we are learning 25 different positions. In the field of journalism and, you know, we only get, you know, will only be good at five that’s what my instructor always say, well, I’ll be good in five.
[00:07:33] And so we’re learning like editing, direct and audio technician, all of those things when it comes to being a multimedia journalists and we have a news station down there anchor or reporter, I also direct, write, edit all the newscasts. And I also write, edit, and, you know, report my own stories that I have going on.
[00:07:59] I see is happening around campus or also outside campus. We covered the Mississippi state fair back in October. And that was our special show. We run a newscast and we do a lot of things, especially like special elections that are happening in the Hienz county area. So that’s what we specifically do.
[00:08:20] And that’s what I do. And I’m also a freelance writer too, as well. I published my first article. Well, we back when I was in 10th grade, I can’t think of a year. I just know the grade, but back when I was in 10th grade and there was a natural hair expo, and that was with the Jackson advocate and then, and now with Mississippi free press, it is an all woman lead newspaper organization and and it’s the only one in the state of Mississippi.
[00:08:50] And so that has been great. My deputy editor Asia, she’s amazing. Nonetheless, she is the owner and the CEO of Mississippi free press. So that’s been amazing too, as well. And I’m also working on my own little side projects and everything, and that’s basically what I do. How did you get involved in. Been writing since I was in early probably since I was about five years old, making my own little stories and plays.
[00:09:21] I started off writing plays and short stories in high school. I transitioned to poetry and writing articles, and that’s how I ended up falling in love with journalism. I just always wanted to write. And a lot of growing up people would call me Maggie way. That was out. She is the. She’s a news anchor in the state and I’ll be like, Hey, this is going on in our neighborhood.
[00:09:48] So, you know, I was just being a little child and thinking I was, I was telling everybody’s business or what was going on around the corner at the corner store. But that’s how I ended up getting involved because a lot of people were like, you know, they’ll call me Maggie, wait, one of the best journalists in the state of Mississippi.
[00:10:04] And I was like, well, I’m going to be a journalist one day, I want to report the news and that how I’ve just watching Maggie Wade and these other news anchors here in this state. And also just, you know, seeing them on CNN and Fox. I always wanted to do that, but I mostly wanted to write and I’m still going to write, regardless if I do become a news anchor.
[00:10:31] Sheryl: In addition to being involved in journalism, you have another public face as Ms. Hines. Can you tell us about that experience?
[00:10:38] Tiara: This has community college is a part of the Mississippi corporation, which is a part of Ms. The miss America organization. And I won that back in November. My platform is the lupus foundation.
[00:10:52] Lupus is an autoimmune disease that affects 1.4 million Americans. And. It mostly affects women and my platform throughout my rain. As in the times I have been promoting lupus, I help a lupus walk. We also have an Instagram and Facebook page and we also have a website called the many faces of lupus.
[00:11:17] And that has been a real success because a lot of people, especially here in Mississippi, don’t know. What is lupus, you know, they don’t know about the disease and because lupus is an auto-immune disease that mimics different illnesses and symptoms such as eczema, arthritis. And it’s one of those silent diseases that you can go undiagnosed for a very long time.
[00:11:45] And what I’m doing is I’m telling people about it. You know, also encouraging folks to get tested early on for lupus, because one of the ladies that I that I’m working with, she said that she feels like she had lupus since she was eight years old, but she didn’t get diagnosed until she was 18, which is 10 years later.
[00:12:08] So that is my platform. I am educating and promoting people on lupus and talking about the benefits of getting tested early on, and we’re also trying to find a cure for lupus.
[00:12:22] Sheryl: How did you get involved in the Mao organization and what would you recommend for girls that are considering it?
[00:12:29] Tiara: I never would have thought I was going to be a part of the, you know, MAO
[00:12:34] I did watch the miss America pageant and the miss USA, miss universe pageant, but I would’ve never thought I would have been a part of, you know, that procedure’s organization. And it’s a great organization because we have so many different workshops that they offer us, you know, through zoom talking about.
[00:12:55] Being safe on social media, how to present your platform. So many things of that like that. And it really helps out a lot because it helps me, you know, understand how to be a title holder, just a local title holder. It doesn’t matter if I’m miss Mississippi or miss America or not. As a title holder, I have to promote my platform and I have to help out and serve my community.
[00:13:22] And that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. And when I first won Ms. Hines community college, I realized that it’s really not about the crown and the sash. It’s more so about serving your community and, you know, the benefits of serving your community. And when I talk to these little girls and it’s not just little girls, it’s everyone to see the joy in their eyes.
[00:13:47] Whenever they see somebody like me come to them and present to their community. That makes me so happy because it’s. They’re saying that they can do whatever they, they can be whoever they want to be in life. And that is one of my main goals to teach young people and to teach everyone that they can still be whoever they want to be in life.
[00:14:10] And to all the young girls that are looking into being a part of Mao, it is not too late. You can do whatever you want to do. Be a doctor and also be a title holder at the same time, you can be in the army and be a title holder, you can do whatever you want because there’s nobody stopping you. But you and I had to learn that myself.
[00:14:36] Sheryl: The community service aspect of Mao and girl Scouts are very similar. What other experiences have you had in girl scouts?
[00:14:45] Tiara: I was a camp counselor for a long time. I started off in the, in the sixth grade when we were doing the junior. I can’t remember the name of it because this is such a long time ago, but I started off in the junior program.
[00:15:00] And when we were learning how to work with the younger girls and. That’s how I started. You know, I’ve always wanted to be a camp counselor and I got my two pins. Actually. I got three pins for being going through the training program since sixth grade through my 10th grade year. And even though I’m not officially a camp counselor, because it was just like a training program.
[00:15:27] I still can go back and go through it because that’s like being a camp. Counselor is one the best things I could’ve ever done. You get to be on the inside. Is there the outside whenever something’s going on. And also I remember, we’re in the south. So it’s always raining and it’s thundering and lightning and it’s like, dang, the girls can’t swim because they always want to go swimming in the lake or in the pool.
[00:15:53] And. It was this big old thunder storm that was happening. And we were running around our, we were at camp Ethicon and camp Anaconda is a huge camp and it’s nothing but hills and slopes and a lot of tree barks up on the road. So we had to run through the woods, telling the girls, like, get out of your cabins. You need to go down to the pavilion.
[00:16:19] And that was like the best moments, because it was like the thrill of it. There’s always something going on as a camp counselor and. At camp in general, one of the girls, she had a snake in her room and she started screaming and I said, I am not going in there. I’m terrified of snakes, but it’s so fun. And I remember when I was kayaking with one of the girls, she wanted to flip over the.
[00:16:50] She said, I want to be one with water. I said, no, honey, do not flip over the kayak like, yes, I can save you. Cause I know how to swim, but, and I’m certified but do not flip over to kayak. I’m begging you not to. That’s also another thing I have done being the girl scout and I love it. I loved it.
[00:17:14] Sheryl: Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:17:17] Tiara: It’s not just being a woman or being a boy or a girl serve your community to the best of your ability. That’s one, the main things I would say I’ve always loved serving my community and that’s mainly through girl Scouts. If it wasn’t for girl Scouts, I probably wouldn’t be where I’m at today. I was taught to serve my community and to do whatever I can to help those around me.
[00:17:41] And I have carried that since I was a Daisy and now I’ve graduated high school and I always tell people I’m still a girl scout, my troop leader. She got onto me one day when I said, oh my goodness. I used to be a girl scout. And she said, no, you will forever be a girl. To get my silver award and my gold award. That was all the two biggest achievements as well.
[00:18:07] And it’s also not just girl Scouts is boy Scouts too, as well. My brothers, they just earned their Eagle Scouts and I’ve worked with boys Scouts too. So I will say if you’re thinking about getting out of girl Scouts or boy Scouts stick to it, it will definitely benefit you the most is. The best thing that could ever happen to you?
[00:18:30] Sheryl: How do you make your smores?
[00:18:31] Tiara: When I was younger, I used to make smores like the regular way with just the, you know, the marshmallows and I had two chocolate the Hershey bars on top of it, and then the granola bars. And I was just like roasted while they’re on top of each other. But now put the marshmallow, like, you know, I let the marshmallow cook for a very long time because I like.
[00:18:56] Smokey taste to it. I like the smokey taste to it and I just eat the marshmallow by itself.
[00:19:06] Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining us today.
[00:19:08] Tiara: Thank you so much.
[00:19:10] Sheryl: Make sure to click, follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are going to be released. And don’t forget to power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:19:23] 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. If you want to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com.
[00:19:41] 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.