Congressional Award

Congratulations to Roma Nagle ’22, recipient of The Congressional Award Gold Medal. The award encourages and recognizes initiative, service and achievement. Gold Medalists log at least 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours each of personal development and physical fitness, and plan a five-day, four-night expedition/exploration for a minimum of two years.

Roma first heard about the award in freshman year, September 2018. Despite COVID restrictions in the middle of her Upper School experience, she persevered through the challenges and found a way to make it happen. 

 

“Yes, there were times that I felt defeated,” shares Roma. “When I was struggling with schoolwork in junior year, I forgot about the award for about a couple of months, and I couldn’t bring myself to revisit it. But when I did, I had the help of [Assistant Head of Upper School] Dr. Clouser, who helped me catch up to speed.”

Roma led the LJCDS chapter of the Feeding San Diego Gratitude Calling Program for her service initiative. She organized classmates to thank food drive donors for their contributions. Roma created a holiday cookbook after collecting fourth-grade students’ families’ prized recipes.

 

For the expedition requirement, Roma visited Boston and New York City to learn about art. In addition to submitting a detailed itinerary, she wrote a paper reflecting on what she had learned. 

 

“The driving force was to see how far I could push myself,” explains Roma. “I wanted to commit to the betterment of myself and my community, and the Congressional Award gave me the avenue to do so. Throughout the four-year process, I realized that I had underestimated my resiliency. I have always been a procrastinator but finishing this program that took my entire high school career proves that I have the capability to commit to my goals. I also learned that a task as daunting as the Congressional Award can be certainly accomplished by breaking it up into manageable parts.”

 

The United States Congress established The Congressional Award in 1979 to recognize initiative, service and achievement in young people. It began as a bipartisan effort in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. The Gold Medal ceremony will be held virtually in July 2022.

Read Roma's featured article in La Jolla Light.

Read the article in The San Diego Union-Tribune.