Friday, February 15, 2019

Gold Award Spotlight: Self-love: The Internal Makeover


Girl Scout Frances has earned her Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouts. 

Frances is a girl with a vision. Her project, “Self-Love: The Internal Makeover,” focused on building self-esteem by utilizing mindfulness techniques and messages of self-love. In doing so, Frances hoped that girls would be less likely to fall under the influence of forces that might strip away a positive self-image at a time when girls are most susceptible to peer and societal influence.

“The root cause of low self-esteem in girls is multifaceted,” she said. “Girls often have difficulty identifying their feelings and responding to those feelings. Ofte
n, they worry excessively and are anxious. They think negatively about themselves, their life’s situation, and their peer’s response to them.”

Frances partnered with leaders in her community such as the women of the Lucille Seals Empowerment Center, Alpha Kappa Alpha, the Norfolk State Fashion Design program and other women and men to host a series of twenty sessions for young girls. During these sessions, the girls worked in groups and at each session, they focused on a new principle such as: mutual respect, self-determination, and believing in oneself, to name a few.

With the help of her Gold Award, Frances learned time management skills and discovered that friendliness, cooperation, and organization are keys to success.

“It was important that girls learned that I truly wanted them to grow in happiness and personal success so their beauty would shine from within,” she said.