Bonnie in the amphitheatre she brought back to life.
	Girl Scout Gold Award Young Women of Distinction Each year Girl Scouts of the USA recognizes young women ages 15-17 who have made a mark on their community, and the world around them, through extraordinary Girl Scout Gold Award projects. These young women are honored as "Girl Scout Gold Award Young Women of Distinction." The Girl Scouts selected to receive this recognition are: • Honored at a special awards ceremony and celebrated during a weeklong event. • Treated to a six-day, all-expense-paid trip to the event • Awarded an educational scholarship from the Kappa Delta Foundation • Given a tour of Savannah, Georgia, including the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace. The tour is donated by EF Explore America, an educational tour company. This year's Girl Scout Gold Award Young Women of Distinction event will take place October 7-12, 2005, in Atlanta, Georgia. The honorees will also play an important role in the Girl Scout National Council Session business meeting and the National Girl Congress.

Finding My Courage
The Girl Scout Gold Award

By Bonnie, Girl Scout Gold Award Young Woman of Distinction

The Journey to the Gold

"Courage" means working toward something bigger than youself, no matter how daunting the task may be. Courage is what the Girl Scout Gold Award helped me to achieve. For my project, I renovated a 600-person amphitheater.

When I first saw the amphitheater, it was so overgrown that it looked like the surrounding forest. It was a local treasure that had been forgotten. Bringing the amphitheater back to life involved many staff hours—184.5 to be exact—and more than 500 groups and individuals within my community. To meet that goal, I had to contact local businesses, groups, individuals, and county officials.

That meant that I had to be persistent and outgoing—two personality traits that I did not originally possess.

Show Me the Money

I had to figure out how to pay for all the supplies needed to renovate the amphitheater. The supply list included more than 100 railroad ties, 100 8x10x10 wooden planks, a gazillion nails and screws, and a community's worth of volunteers. That doesn't even include all the electrical equipment and the stage!

As a Girl Scout, I could not take in monetary donations, so I set up accounts at local hardware stores. That way people could drop off donations and I could go directly to the hardware store to get the supplies I needed. I also had local church groups, school groups, and several individuals help clear hundreds of small trees and remove old railroad ties that had once been the seating. Then I had to have strong and muscular volunteers to place the new railroad ties so there would be seating—that is where the Chattanooga Seabees came in (the Seabees are a military group, right now the platoon is over in Iraq). They were a huge help!

Sister Scouts to the Rescue

Next came the problem of the stage. I had run out of funds and I couldn't make the stage as large as I wanted to. That's when Girl Scout Troop 4482 came to my rescue by doing the stage for their Girl Scout Silver Award.

Lights, Camera, Action!

The last task of my project was to open it up to the community. My community is full of musical talent, so I held a Girl Scout Gold Award ceremony/concert that featured local bands. More than 300 people came to the event and I was presented with several awards.

This project has benefited my community by reminding them of their past culture and the importance of preservation of one's heritage. This project has also benefited me by making me become more mature and developing my sense of character.

I now know who I am and what I am about. I also have confidence in myself to know that I can do anything if I set my mind to it. Even now, when I am just starting college and I have self-doubt, I just think that I am a Girl Scout Young Woman of Distinction and I remember that I can achieve any of my dreams—if I work hard enough.