Talking about Gold with the Girls

I'm going to a meeting to talk with girls about their Gold Award tomorrow, so I've been thinking about what to say.  I don't think that everyone in the meeting will be going for the Gold, so I don't want to bore them to death.  But I want to make sure that what we talk about is meaningful.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit hard on issues. What is the ISSUE the girl wants to address.  What puts the fire in her belly?  What gives her the knee-jerk reaction?  

Okay, so I don't want to open the door to too many graphics to these girls, but I think we all know that if the girl is not passionate about what she's going to be doing, it might not happen. There are any number of things she can use to procrastinate working on the Gold.  We will be talking about how to make it a top shelf item.

I think I'm going to be very clear about picking a project the girl LIKES!  She'll be stuck with it for a while, so it seems critical that she have passion to put into it.  It's that passion that's going to carry her to the completion of her project. Hopefully. 

We might also talk about support.  She'll need her parents' support to get to places.  Maybe other relatives' support for funding and resources.  Friends who aren't part of her GS troop, but maybe who can be on her Gold team to help her out. An agency with some resources to kick in.  Or a grant identified for her topic, which invites girls to apply for funding.

I bet we'll also talk about the puppies at the shelter, the kids at Orangewood and the homeless who need blankets. That's okay, as it can be a jumping off place to figure out HOW those agencies could work. Or not.  I don't want to be discouraging. I do want to be supportive.

I also don't want to come across as scary when I talk about the interview.  I made a girl cry the other night, and I just hate that!  I also had two girls give me very firm handshakes, look me in the eye, and propose stellar projects.  I think I'll tell them that story, and ask them to strive to be the latter!  I'll let you know how it all goes.....