The image that the term “Girl Scout” carries is likely one of a young girl ringing a doorbell in an attempt to sell cookies. But there is much more to being a Girl Scout than that, especially for those who remain Girl Scouts into high school.

            One example of this is Lauren Auster, senior, who has been a Girl Scout since she was very young.

            “I first became a Girl Scout probably in kindergarten, mostly because my mom wanted me to,” Auster said, “but I stayed a Girl Scout because I get to help the community while still having fun with my friends in the troop.”

            Though Girl Scouts offers a social component, their main goal is to serve the community in many different ways. Only scouts who develop a outstanding service project, however, can achieve the Gold Award. Auster finished her Gold Award project in May.

            “For my Gold Award, I painted a mural at the Buffalo Creek building in Lake Zurich, which is used as a dance studio and a preschool. It’s kind of a three part mural, where one part is about dance, another part is an underwater scene, and the third part is about learning, with a pile of books with musical notes coming out of it,” Auster said. “I get to paint and be creative and make the preschool a better environment all at the same time.”

            The project was a large endeavor with major time commitment, Auster said. According to the Girl Scout website, a scout has to identify an important issue and create a plan to address that issue, and then get the plan approved by the Girl Scout Council. When that is added to the actual execution of the idea, the requirements are substantial.

            “It took me a really long time. I’d been doing it for around four hours every Sunday for a several months,” Auster said.

            What motivated Auster to undertake such an extensive venture? There were several reasons behind it, she said.

            “It’s the highest honor a senior or ambassador [Girl Scout] can get, and I’m at that point where you either do scouting just for the activities or you do it because you really want to make a difference in the community,” Auster said. “Not to mention the fact that colleges like to see it on an application. But that definitely wasn’t the main motivation. I really wanted to do it.”

            After finishing her project, Auster officially received the Gold Award in July. The Mayor of Lake Zurich also personally recognized her contribution to the community. She is able to list the accomplishment on her college applications this winter.

            Carl Krause, college and career counselor, agrees with Auster that colleges and universities are impressed by an applicant with the Gold Award.

            “You can do a sport and never necessarily be a leader, but to do a Gold Award you have to be a leader. It’s prestigious, like an Eagle Scout award [for Boy Scouts], but I think I even see less Gold Awards than Eagle Scout awards, making it that much better,” Krause said. “I think it tells [the colleges] a lot about a student.”

            In fact, being a long-time Girl Scout in general can contribute to an applicant’s college résumé, Krause said.

            “[The student] has probably been doing scouting since kindergarten, so that level of dedication and leadership impresses colleges,” Krause said. “It’s more of a level of dedication to one or a couple of extracurriculars, as opposed to just how many you have. So with Girl Scouts, the number of people who start with it compared to the people who end with it in high school is really different.”

            Although Auster is a prime example of how Girl Scouting extends beyond the common perception, she does concede that the public image of Girl Scouts holds a little weight.

            “We do a lot of fun stuff in addition to the service projects,” Auster said. “And of course, Girl Scout cookies are the best.”