MORGAN O’CONNOR
WESTFIELD – Westfield Technical Academy senior Morgan O’Connor is achieving something that a very small number of people do — she is earning her Girl Scout Gold Award.
“Less than 6 percent of Girl Scouts earn a Gold Award,” she said. “I am the first person in Westfield to achieve Gold in nine years.”
O’Connor said she has been a Girl Scout almost her entire life.
When O’Connor’s older sister was old enough to become a Girl Scout there was no leader at her school so O’Connor’s mother Patricia took on the challenge.
“I went to all the meetings with my mom and sister, so I have been involved in Girl Scouts pretty much my whole life,” she said.
When O’Connor was old enough to officially become a scout her mother lead her troop as well.
“I have been an official Girl Scout since I was five,” he said.
O’Connor began, as all Girl Scouts do, as a Daisy scout. Then she moved up to Brownies and is now a Girl Scout Ambassador, the highest level in Girl Scouts.
O’Connor said she has always enjoyed Girl Scouts and as she got older many of her friends left the troop. However, O’Connor continued to enjoy scouting and plans to make it part of her entire life by becoming a Girl Scout leader next year.
O’Connor is looking at colleges right now and has already been accepted to the University of New Haven. She said if she chooses that school, she would like to start a Girl Scout group for children in the area and have them meet on campus and expose them to higher education.
O’Connor admitted that there is a stigma associated with being an older Girl Scout.
“People just didn’t understand why I continued in Girl Scouts,” she said. “People said Girl Scouts don’t do anything, however we do a lot.”
Similar to a Boy Scout earning an Eagle Scout Award, to earn a Gold Award a Girl Scout must complete 80 hours of work herself (Boy Scouts can complete 80 hours as a group, she said) and a community project. For O’Connor, taking up the school’s water fountains was at the top of her project list.
“My project was replacing the old fountains with water bottle re-filling stations that have a cooling system, “she said. “Our buildings are old, and I wanted to promote health and talk about the environmental benefits of reusable water bottles.”
O’Connor gave a presentation of her water bottle refilling station project to students at Westfield Technical Academy last week.
The cost of the project was over $5,000, which O’Connor raised through bake sales, bingo fundraisers, farmers market events and cookie sales. She was able to purchase water bottles for her classmates that are reusable plastic, clear, and colorless, which was a school requirement.
O’Connor said being a Girl Scout has contributed to the young woman she has become.
“I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t a Girl Scout,” she said. “It has shaped me.“
O’Connor touted the experiences and opportunities she has had as a Girl Scout including taking a trip to Europe.
O’Connor credited her mother for her work ethic.
“She is the best Girl Scout leader I have ever seen,” she said. “And that’s not just because she’s my mom. She works really hard.”
O’Connor also noted that her church, our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, was an integral part of her Girl Scout experience.
And while O’Connor plans to keep Girl Scouts an important part of her life she hopes to pursue a career in sound design and music production. She also loves to paint, draw, sing, dance and volunteer.
