[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 Elle with us. Hi, Elle!
[00:00:18] Elle: Hi,.
[00:00:19] Sheryl: Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:22] Elle: Yes. So my girl scout gold award project is called the only truth is in music. It was inspired because of my passion for music from such a young age. And so many of my girl scout advisors, troop members encouraged me to pursue a topic that I was passionate about.
[00:00:37] So my project was the collection of around $60,000 worth of instruments from local community members, all across Ohio and even into Pennsylvania, and then donating these instruments to the Willoughby fine arts association in Willoughby, Ohio where I grew up taking, acting, singing, dance classes, everything you can think of.
[00:00:55] And then these instruments were cleaned, repaired, refurbished so that they can be used for students to run out like library books so that students who do not have the financial status to purchase brand new instruments of their own can use these instruments to achieve, reach and participate in music education.
[00:01:12] Sheryl: You mentioned that you had a few adults suggest to you to make sure that whatever your gold award project was something that was passionate about after going through the gold award project. Do you agree or disagree with that and why?
[00:01:26] Elle: Yes, definitely pick a topic that you’re passionate about. Music has been something that I’ve been interested in from such a young age.
[00:01:32] So a topic that I really care about it made my project so much easier, so much more enjoyable. And more meaningful. What was your favorite part of your project? Definitely. All of the people that I’ve met, I heard such cool stories from each of the people who donated instruments and at various instrument jives everyone had a different story to tell, and it was great to hear the background of where the instruments I were using, where I was using came from.
[00:01:55] Sheryl: Do you have a favorite story from those that you could share with the audience?
[00:01:59] Elle: My favorite story was definitely from a man by the name of David Lars. So David Lars grew up in Pennsylvania. He owned his own music shop because he was so passionate about violins and cellos. And then at the current age, is around 80 90.
[00:02:12] He decided that it was time to retire, but he wanted all of his instruments and all of the work that he put into his shop to go to good use. So he donated his entire music shop to me and my goal award project. So it was great to hear. All of the accomplishments that he had made along his journey.
[00:02:28] Sheryl: Who else was on your team and how did they help you?
[00:02:30] Elle: My project advisor, Jens miser definitely helped with my project a lot. My mom was very supportive in all of the activities and events that I chose to attend with my gold award project. Michael Ziegler from the Willowby fine arts association, who was in charge of helping me with my project and is the director of music education at the fine arts was so supportive and made everything go so much more smoothly.
[00:02:53] Sheryl: What was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:02:56] Elle: Some of the companies and people that originally agreed to work with me on my gold award project, backed out due to inflation prices of different tasks and different pieces of instruments that were required. So that definitely put a couple bumps in the road when it came time to repairing the instruments and getting everything that I needed done.
[00:03:16] But thankfully my parents specifically, my dad, I was able to repair the instruments on my own after taking classes learning how to repair them and tons and tons of YouTube videos.
[00:03:26] Sheryl: I was gonna ask about the refurbishing of the instruments next, but you just answered that question. When refurbishing the instruments, what did you learn that you didn’t realize that was the most helpful tip?
[00:03:37] Elle: Definitely to be patient and it’s okay to make mistakes. There were lots of times that I did make mistakes on instruments and it was a little bit discouraging at first, but I knew that I could learn from it specifically with repairing violence. All of the pieces are so delicate. And so the first violin I repaired, I broke a string and I was so.
[00:03:54] And then my dad he came out and he was like, no, no, it’s okay here. Like, this is how you’ll do it. You’ll fix it. It’ll be totally. And so he showed me what to do, and I was able to repair the violins correctly, moving forward.
[00:04:08] Sheryl: Going through the gold award process, what was something that you didn’t know about the process itself that would be helpful to others considering going for their gold awards?
[00:04:17] Elle: The time that it takes to put into your gold award project? My project advisors and the leaders of my troop told me that I would spend at least 80 hours on my project. And I, I just, I couldn’t get it into my head on how much 80 hours really is. So I spent over. Over a hundred hours on my gold award project and just the time commitment and how months it’ll really take you is something that I wish I knew ahead of time, just so that I could plan my schedule better, to be more accommodating.
[00:04:42] Sheryl: To touch a little further on that subject in the proposal for the gold award, you created a timeline.
[00:04:47] And then in your final report, you report on it. What you actually did. How did those two timelines compare and what would you, again, looking back have done differently with that proposal timeline?
[00:04:59] Elle: I would’ve stretched it out over the course of this entire year into the fall of 2023. But my original timeline and how I’m completing my project.
[00:05:08] I said that I would have my project finished by the fall of 2022. I think giving myself until the fall of 2023, would’ve been a little bit easier and more lenient and how much time I had to repair the instruments and the other activities that I could participate in. What other girl scout memories do you have to share?
[00:05:25] I’ve been participating in girl Scouts for 11 going on 12 years. My mom was the troop advisor and the scout leader from kindergarten up until my freshman year of high school. And then that’s when I decided to change troops just because my old troop had disbanded and kind of fallen out after all of the girls went to different high schools and it was difficult to plan activities together.
[00:05:47] My favorite memories are singing around the campfire and all of the friendships that you create specifically. I remember on my first camp out with a new troop that I joined. Seven. Oh, 4 44. I had done all the girls there, but they were all so welcoming also the girls, they braided my hair and they put hair wraps in my hair.
[00:06:07] So we would all have matching ones.
[00:06:10] Sheryl: What is in your future?
[00:06:11] Elle: I am currently going to my senior year of high school. I’ve on May 14th, 2022. I graduated from Lakeland community college with a degree in psychology unit degree in. So moving forward, once I graduate high school, I’m planning to attend college right now.
[00:06:26] I’m looking at the university of Akron, but that is bound to change to double major in biomedical engineering and science and nursing with a minor, in any type of foreign linguistics, I’m looking at German or Spanish. And then if I have the opportunity to also American sign language, and then after that, Planning to go to medical school.
[00:06:44] And I would like my focus to be on neuroscience, emergency medicine or molecular genetics.
[00:06:51] Sheryl: And how did you get to that as an interest?
[00:06:53] Elle: When I was in seventh grade, I started taking college courses. And so the. Difference in the topics that were taught were definitely eye-opening and provided a lot of new insight to different career opportunities.
[00:07:05] And what I could pursue during my time taking a bunch of different biology and anatomy courses, I found a love for neuroscience and I, I loved the way the brain worked and how it operated with other parts of the body and how significant it really was for being such, such a small portion of you. And so I knew from that point on, I wanted to pursue neuroscience and then I had an opportunity to have a clinical shadowing experience at the Cleveland clinic in their critical care unit, as well as the trauma department and having the opportunity to witness and see what all of the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals do to make sure.
[00:07:44] All of their patients receive the treatment that they need on the spot. I just, I would love to participate and help people in that way.
[00:07:52] Sheryl: I wanna highlight what you said earlier. You’ve already graduated from college and you haven’t graduated from high school yet. How did you manage taking college courses while still being in high school?
[00:08:03] Elle: It became challenging at times, but to keep myself motivated and keep. Going, I would keep a picture of a doctor, a white coat, a stethoscope hanging up in my room. And I knew like, this is what I wanna do. So this is the work that I have to put in to get there. The best thing I did was creating a to-do list every single day, what I would be doing for what class.
[00:08:21] So for the first couple classes I took, I struggled in creating a timeline of the amount of work that I needed to complete by a certain time. And I was. I was in seventh, seventh, eighth grade at the time. So I was still, I was still young, but then once I reached high school, I had a better understanding of how the classes operated and what I would need to be doing.
[00:08:41] So then it just became easier almost easier than high school courses, because the expectation was already set up. Whereas the high school classes, it would change teacher to teacher.
[00:08:49] Sheryl: You are also involved in pageants. Can you tell us what, how you’re involved in pageants?
[00:08:54] Elle: Originally it started because one of my friends, Elis had posted on their story that pageant their mom was in charge of was they didn’t have enough participants, but they were based out of Jiaga county.
[00:09:04] And I, I’m not from Jiaga county, I’m from lake county, but I participate in many, many activities there. And so I texted them and I was like, Hey, this isn’t really my thing, but this looks really interesting. What do I need to do to. So they sent me the application process. I filled everything out. You answered many questions about yourself and then submitted a eight to 10 minute personal reflection of the activities that you’re involved with, what you’re passionate about and why you would be fit for the title of miss jiaga county, maple festival queen.
[00:09:33] And so I applied and I had talked to my mom and she was like, I know like you should apply, be excited, but a ton of these girls have been doing it since they were really, really young. So just be prepared. You, you may not win this. And I said, that’s okay. I just want the experience of participating. We got there and we competed in formal wear Business wear and then floor length gowns.
[00:09:51] And so the, all of the judges as well, asked us questions, what I valued most out of my experience. And so I answered the questions and then we all had to sit back down and wait. It felt like forever, but it was only 30 minutes. And then the judges called us up on stage and they called the third runner.
[00:10:05] No, the second runner up the first runner up. And then they called my name and I was so excited. And then after that, I knew that I wanted to continue to compete. So I came across the miss Ohio volunteer. And I determined that that would be something that I was passionate about because I am very much in support of the spirit of volunteerism and encouraging young women to become leaders within their community.
[00:10:28] So I submitted my application and I earned the title of miss Concord team volunteer. And now in September, I’ll be competing for the title of miss Ohio. And if I win the title of miss Ohio, I’ll be competing at the national pageant in March for the title of miss America.
[00:10:42] Sheryl: Well, good luck with that.
[00:10:44] Elle: Thank you. Thank you.
[00:10:46] Sheryl: What have you learned from pageants that’s different than what you’ve learned in school or girl Scouts or other places?
[00:10:52] Elle: It’s important to be yourself. There are a lot of times that people will encourage you to fit in with a crowd and meet a certain set of standards. Be sure to stand out and be yourself.
[00:11:02] I think that makes you so much more unique, so much more different, and it’s really eye opening and such it’s amazing for young women to see older women and women have the ability to be themselves.
[00:11:14] Sheryl: Is there anything else that you’d like to share with the audience?
[00:11:17] Elle: Definitely pursue your dreams. And even if people tell you that you won’t be able to accomplish them or that there will be challenges along the way, acknowledge that listen to their advice.
[00:11:27] Many, many people tell me that I wouldn’t be able to win miss jiaga county that I wouldn’t be able to graduate college before I finished high school. But here I am accomplishing both of those. And so it’s okay to have bumps in the road along the way, acknowledge that for what it is, but keep moving forward.
[00:11:42] Sheryl: How do you make your s’mores?
[00:11:44] Elle: Instead of using Graham crackers with my s’mores, I like to use apple slices, so I take the apple slices. I toast them just a little bit over the fire, and then I put on the chocolate and the marshmallow it’s perfect.
[00:11:54] Sheryl: That sounds amazing. I’m gonna have to try that the next time we make s’mores.
[00:11:58] Elle: It’s definitely delicious.
[00:12:00] Sheryl: Well, thanks for joining us today.
[00:12:02] Elle: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:12:03] Sheryl: Make sure to click, follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released. And make sure to power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:12:15] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:12:22] 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/SherylMrobinson.
[00:12:43] That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M, Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.