Hailing from Bristol, Tennessee, Madison Mitchell embarked on a mission to tackle a critical issue affecting young girls today: nurturing self-esteem, promoting self-care, and fostering responsible use of technology, particularly social media. She turned this mission into her Girl Scout Gold Award project.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are high schoolers who address issues they’re passionate about by planning and implementing a project that produces lasting change in the community and beyond. It is the Girl Scouts’ highest and most prestigious honor.

For Madison, the inspiration behind the project was both personal and purposeful. “I picked this particular subject because I wanted to create something younger me needed or something my younger sister could use,” Madison said.

Madison identified a key cause for low self-esteem among teenage girls as today’s technology, particularly the unrealistic portrayals of life on social media. To counter this, she leveraged the same platforms that contribute to the problem, transforming them into vehicles for positivity and self-affirmation.

With her Instagram account, selfloveproject, she created a safe space on social media that serves as a source of positive posts and reminders. She built a website, Self Love Project, as a platform where girls and adults could access resources for promoting self-love and self-care. She developed a curriculum that included tools like a seven-day journaling guide, offered as a resource in the journey towards self-care and confidence.

Despite the setbacks brought on by the pandemic, which forced the transition from planned in-person interactions to a virtual format, Madison persevered. “The biggest obstacle for me was COVID,” Madison said. “I wanted this project to be in-person and as hands-on as possible, so when COVID came around I had to take a different approach than I had originally planned.”

Finally, Madison was able to give a presentation in person for participants in the YWCA’s TechGYRLS after-school STEM enrichment program. “Getting to connect with the girls and hear about how they needed this was the most successful part of my project,” Madison said.

She recalled a moment when a girl approached her after the presentation, expressing how the project provided the encouragement and resources she needed. Other girls wrote handwritten notes expressing their gratitude and sharing how her tools had fostered positive changes in their lives.

Looking ahead, Madison knows that her project will sustain beyond her personal involvement. “The website and Instagram, which are both full of all the resources needed, will stay in place. I also created a curriculum any program can use along with videos and Google slides,” Madison explained.

Madison is preparing to enter her sophomore year at Emory & Henry College this fall, where she plans to double major in political science and psychology with a minor in legal and justice systems. As she concludes her Girl Scout journey on a high note, her Gold Award project continues to resonate with and empower young girls, reminding them of the importance of self-love and care in a world increasingly dominated by social media.

Congratulations, Madison! Visit girlscoutcsa.org to learn more about the Girl Scouts.