When a girl scout is in high school, they can begin working towards their girl scout gold award. To earn the award, a take action project must be completed, along with the prerequisites to beginning work on the award. 

The take action project is an 80 hour project made up of five elements: 

• it must address a root cause

• have a national and/or global link

• the girl scout must demonstrate leadership

• the project must be sustainable

• and there must be a measurable impact

After the prerequisites (completing girl scout journeys) a girl scout can begin work on their proposal. After approval by the gold award committee, they can begin work on their project, leading a team of at least five people. Once the project is completed, a report is written up and submitted to the committee for review. The girl scout will then be called in for an interview about their project. 

Being a long process and a lot of work, many girl scouts opt to never earn their gold award. Only about 3200 girl scouts earned their gold award in the last year. That's about 5.4% of eligible girl scouts. 

Yet, despite the small percentage of girl scouts who earn the award, there are many benefits to those who do. There are many scholarships available, and it looks amazing on college applications, resumes, and at job interviews. Those who enlist in the US armed forces may even receive advanced rank for their achievements.  

But earning the gold award is so much more than that. Through the process, girls become a better version of themselves. They develop a variety of skills that prepare them for the rest of their lives. A research study has even supported that gold award recipients were found to display a more positive outcome in life compared to girl scout alumnae who did not receive the award. They had a greater "sense of self, life satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service, and civic engagement". 

"The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are its makers."

                                                                                                                    -Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts