When it Doesn't Go as Planned...

“Strength shows,
not only in the ability to persist,
but in the ability to start over.”
                - F. Scott Fitzgerald

This quote seems particularly apropos to me today.  One of my Gold Award girls had some very high expectations for her Gold Take Action Project.  I thought it was ambitious, but she seemed determined, and goodness knows, she has the brains and stamina to do anything!

It all started well:  the vice principal at the school bought into her plan and vowed that he and the school would not only help, but sustain the project as well.  So the program began, the kids were involved, everyone got a starting evaluation sheet that was to be kept, so that the ending one could be compared.

There was a collection piece:  hosting an electronic waste day at the campus.  All was going well, until the night before, when the electronic waste truck canceled.  And given the restrictions, there was no replacing it, so the collection was canceled. The funds that should have been raised, weren't. The recycling bins couldn't be purchased.

Nevertheless, our girl picked another site, got preliminary buy-in from the site, only to be turned down again, just before the scheduled date.  Some other girl would be crushed, but she perservered.

The VP at the school was the entity to provide the final evaluations of to the kids, and instead of papering the whole school, he only did two classes.  Oh my!  All that hoped for data, the proof that her project had made a difference wasn't available.  And she still pushed forward!  She got a promise from the school to host the electronic waste drive and to continue the program which she started...in the new school year.

Is this how she hoped her Take Action Project was going to go?  How she hoped she'd be able to show change and growth?  Nope, but she did the best she could.  It was a remarkable lesson of how agencies and people can let you down.  I felt so badly for her!  When I signed off on the paperwork, I asked what she thought?  Her first comment was, "well, maybe I tried to do too much."  Could be.  We also talked about how well she did with what she had. 

She earned her Gold.  I only wish she had had the success she envisioned from the start. I think she'll be okay.  She learned some things, and maybe learned something about herself as well.  Had she not already been a Senior, I think she might have started over, and made the plan work.  But she graduated from high school, and ran out of time.