GOLD AWARD - SWE NEXT CLUBS

Gold Award Luncheon

Marie Young, June 9, 2018

·        If you earned one of the higher level GS awards, First Class, Curved Bard or Gold Award – including those of us being honored today – please raise your hand

·        If you have been a girl member for 10 years or more – please raise your hand.

I am honored to stand here today with the 37 2018 Gold Award recipients of the Girl Scouts of Central Texas.  Think about it – there are 16,922 girl members in our council, 723 seniors and ambassadors – and today only 37 of us have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting – less than ½% all girls in our council – we are the role models for the younger scouts – we are only 5% of Seniors and Ambassadors. 

We are amongst roughly 3000 Girl Scouts who have earned the higher level award here in Central Texas since this council and legacy councils were formed. 

We are the inspiration for the next generation of girl scouts, the next generation of engineers, lawyers, politicians, moms and action takers.

As a fourth generation Girl Scout/Girl Guide and the third Gold Award recipient in my family – I was born with Green blood.  I was raised on Girl Scouts and STEM – 19 years ago – Girl Scouts of Lone Star Council started one of the first STEM programs in the country.  Giving girls the edge in school and in life. As a result, I was taught for as long as I can remember that girls should do science, technology, engineering and math programs and I can do whatever I wanted.

 I think my mom signed my sister and me up for every STEM program she could find in the councils we lived in.  Programming, robotics, engineering, applied STEM and more.

So when I started to explore options for my Gold Award – it was upsetting to me to hear that the statistics for women in STEM careers were actually less than 19 years ago.  I knew I had to figure out a way to get more girls involved in engineering.  I knew to make a real impact it had to be more than just in Austin or in Texas.  Working closely with the Society of Women Engineers headquarters staff -  we identified projects that the volunteers and staff thought would be useful to youth outreach efforts.

Working with adult volunteers and staff, I took action by creating videos, slide decks, promotional pieces, social media plans, scripts and other marketing materials for them regarding their SWENext club program.  I love the fact that any group, team, club or troop could be a SWENext club.

SWENext clubs offer girls ways to

·        connect with female engineering role models,

·        solve real world problems,

·        participate in regular competitions with clubs around the globe and

·        anything else the group wants to do. 

SWENexters are eligible for scholarships and clubs are eligible for grants.  I am proud of the fact that as a result of these resources they have grown from 70 clubs to over 140 clubs around the world.

My gold award is only one of the awesome opportunities that I have had in Girl Scouting – learn new things, entrepreneurship, public speaking, archery, traveling and meeting others make me who I am. 

In Girl Scouting we have all had opportunities, to make friends, and memories.  We are given experiences to help us become young women of Courage, Confidence and Character.    It is how we use these experiences that define us.     

I was part of a group of middle and high school girls  a year and  a half ago – at the time I called them my friends.  During the first 6 months I was teased about my size, not once, not twice but to the point that I changed who I was, who my friends were, how I dressed and even how I treated my family – I wanted to fit in.  Even after all the changes they still body shamed me and made sure I wouldn't be able to participate the in the group the way I wanted.   In their mind I wasn’t strong enough and couldn’t be strong enough.  

My mom picked me up from my group and for the eleventh time I was crying.  She encouraged me to talk to mentors.  That resulted in an adult explaining to me for 2 hours why the names were pet names and not meant as insults.  This did not make it better, it actually made it worse.  I knew I had to do something – I did not like the “pet names”.

I made it my goal to get stronger and to prove I was strong enough, that I could do the job that I wanted.

I had the courage to try new activities – I started to rock climb 5 days a week making new friends who shared with me their knowledge and supported me.  Peers and adults alike – it was amazing that even those who might have been considered “the competition” were supportive and helping.   A few months later I was strong enough to do the job I wanted – HOWEVER, the decision had been made – I never got the opportunity to even show that I could do it.

I found the confidence to leave this group, define friendship in a different way and to strive to be the type of friend that I needed , others needed those friends too.  Friends who would be supportive, encouraging and always teaching – this is my character. 

Through cookie and product sales – I have learned how important goal setting can be to being able to participate and excel in new opportunities.  I set a goal to go from Twig to Strong and from teased to a friend. 

I continue to set new goals and as an accidental athlete. I have qualified for the regional and national Ultimate Ninja Athletic Association tournaments.  I will be competing in the American Ninja Warrior Junior show this fall –

No one will ever describe me as a twig or weak again.

We learned in kindergarten to “make new friends and keep the old – one is silver and the other is gold. “Don’t be afraid to let go of those friends who aren’t supporting you, make new ones. 

Before you leave today – make a new friend, at your table or the table next to you.  You will never know when or where you might meet again. 

You are part of a sisterhood,

you are the elite Girl Scout,

you are your own warrior.