The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, similar to the BSA Eagle Scout but harder (Trust me, I've done both). It’s all about making a lasting difference in other people’s lives. To earn it, you have to pick an issue in your community and create a project that tackles it in a meaningful way that looks at the root cause. The requirements are pretty intense: you need to put in at least 80 hours of work, lead a team, and make sure your project is sustainable, meaning it keeps helping others even after you're done. It’s not about getting recognition, it’s about using your time and effort to help people in your community. Whether it’s building, raising awareness, or creating support systems, Gold Award projects focus on making life better for others.

For my Gold Award project, I transformed a the sensory room at my school that had unfortunately become a storage space for a whole bunch of junk, and turned it back into a calming, functional space for the students who need it. I started by working with teachers and staff to understand what the room needed most, then created a detailed list of items and shared it with a local law firm that generously offered to fund the project. I organized and led a group of girls from my church to paint canvases with calming designs to hang on the walls, and also collaborated with my school's service learning class (Special-ed Art Class), who made paintings and magnets for the room. Once everything was ready, I led a team to clean out and completely set up the room, arranging furniture, organizing supplies, and decorating the space to make it welcoming and peaceful. Through every step, I coordinated multiple groups, managed communication between donors and the school, and made sure the project would have a lasting impact for students who rely on the sensory room for support.