The Gold standard: Women share their stories of earning the highest award

Emily Nadik

As part of our celebration of the Gold Award 100th anniversary, we're sharing stories of women--from the business community, council staff, GSWPA volunteers and our own Girl Scouts--who have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting.

Today we're featuring an interview with Emily Nadik, GSWPA grants coordinator.

• What are some of the lessons you’ve learned through Girl Scouting and earning the highest award?
• Some of the lessons I've learned during my numerous years as a Girl Scout include, of course, being prepared, as well as how to assume leadership and ownership in things that I do and wish to accomplish. I realized many things were processes and you had to follow them through until their completion. Earning the Gold Award taught me that hard work and involvement is fulfilling and very well worth it to achieve your goals. The amount of opportunities to take action and lead an activity definitely helped develop my leadership skills.
• What role has Girl Scouts played in your life?
• Girl Scouts was and continues to be a huge part of my life. (Since kindergarten I participated in at least one Girl Scouts activity a week. From cookie sales, to volunteering at the geriatric center, to the countless badges and projects, MagNut sales, and overnighters and camping, Girl Scouts was a constant.) Everything that I did with Girl Scouts definitely helped me grow into the person I am today. I'm more courageous and confident, and have developed my character because of Girl Scout program.
• Has earning the highest award helped you in your career?
• The amount of responsibility and dedication that is required to complete the Gold Award has definitely helped me in my career. One of the main components of the Gold Award is time management. I've learned how to budget my time and prioritize.
• Can you provide a brief summary of your Gold Award project?
• For my Gold Award, I created Reading Literacy Packs for the Child Development class at my school. My overall goal for this project was to encourage reading at a young age with family for a small portion of the day. Each child in the class received a personalized bag (which I sewed and created) filled with age-appropriate books and activities. When I distributed the packs to the class, the children were so excited to have something with their name on it and could not wait to take it home. Through parental evaluation forms, the feedback was phenomenal. The parents stated that they were reading with their children and that the children were so excited to sit with their parents and read. Having an impact on these children made me feel like I truly made a difference!

Join us!

Are you a member of this elite group of women who have achieved the Highest Award in Girl Scouts? Since 1916 these women have earned the Golden Eagle of Merit, Golden Eaglet, Curved Bar, First Class and the Girl Scout Gold Award.

Join our network to connect with other award recipients and receive invitations to events for Girl Scouts’ top advocates, donors and supporters. Join today at gswpa.org/highest-award.