By Matthew Avitabile
ROXBURY — Roxbury Central School student Liam Bullock earned the Congressional Award Gold Medal and special honors in Washington DC after improving himself and his community.
Liam earned the Congressional Award Gold Medal after 400 hours of Voluntary Public Service, in particular 200 hours of Personal Development and 200 hours of Physical Fitness. Earners must spend at least 5 days and 4 nights exploring a new environment or culture. All of these must be done over 24 months or longer.
It took him about 3.5 years to complete the project. There are four sections to the award: Community Service, personal development, a physical fitness goal, and an expedition. The physical fitness goal was to become a blackbelt, which included two training sessions a week. The personal goal was to become an Eagle Scout, which included attending Scouts every Tuesday. The expedition was traveling to Gettysburg in July 2021 for a week with the Boy Scouts. This included hiking the 18-mile historical trail, taking part in the ghost trail, and camping at a historic farm during a reenactment. While thousands of reenactors were at Gettysburg, the Scouts were the only outsiders staying at the farm, offering a “full immersion.” While at the Visitors Center in uniform, members of the National Parks Service invited the group to the National Cemetery to participate in the Taps Ceremony.
The award is a prestigious honor. The Congressional Award is Congress' only charity meant to "honor, encourage, and inspire America's youth." Any student between 13.5 and 23 are welcome to participate in the award “by setting and achieving individually challenging goals in four program areas: Voluntary Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness and Expedition/Exploration.”
“It has taken many years to complete this and I have also grown and matured during the process,” he said. “The Congressional Gold Medal is not easy to earn but has been well worth the personal growth and a personal achievement I have gained from the process. I have completed more than 506 service hours in my community and to my troop, which I am very proud of.”
Each young person sets their own goal and must dedicate themselves towards it. Liam is coming to the end of completing all four of his goals.
“This award isn’t given, these kids earn it,” mother Julie Bullock said.
The event was from June 11-13, including a day in Congress on June 12. There were a number of speakers throughout the day and that if students wanted to meet with state dignitaries, they could. This allowed for an extensive tour of the Capitol.
"I learned a lot about many things in the different sections of the award but the biggest thing I learned is determination. Due to the length of time it takes to complete this, one needs to be very patient and have discipline,” Liam said.
About 800 students nationwide were part of this year’s program and 35 students took part from New York.
That Friday the group met at the national ballfield for a group photo followed by the Congressional baseball game, which was delayed due to a downpour. While many left, there was an announcement honoring the students prior to the game.
“It was three packed-full days,” Julie said.
This was Liam’s second trip to DC following a previous Roxbury Central School trip.
Each of the gold medalists were entered into the Congressional record and a copy was sent to families.
Liam said that the program was “great” and a “lot of work.” He added that there were a lot of aspects needed to learn and create goals for yourself.
He said that his favorite part of the program has been the “service aspect” and assisting the community. The award earner added that it was great to help clean out the Roxbury church and the flower boxes. He enjoyed working with older residents. The three hour project was a small portion of the total project but was his favorite part.
Liam added that the trip to DC was excellent and that meeting members of Congress and touring the Capitol was “cool.” He said that it was important to be there with his family, and credits them for helping him along with the process.
He said that the project helped “open up my mind” and get more involved in community projects.
“It was cool to experience different ways of serving,” he said.
It was a surprise to earn the award and “hear my name” following three and a half years of hard work.
The award winner credited his Boy Scout Troop and his family. Ultimately, the project’s main portion was through his self-direction and dedication.
Liam said that when he started the project was to become an Eagle Scout and a Black Belt in karate. He is currently finishing both of them now. In less than a month, he is testing to be a Black Belt.
He said that the project overall was 186 logged community service hours and 320 hours with his Boy Scout Troop. However, the actual commitment was greater as he stopped logging hours at that point.
Liam added that he was proud of setting the goal and sticking with it and staying “committed.” At the end of the three and a half years, it was a “proud moment” to go to Washington DC and have a “sense of accomplishment.”
“I feel good knowing I have helped in some way to improve what many will enjoy. My personal goal is to earn Eagle Scout, and I am currently one project away from earning that goal. The number of things I have learned getting to Eagle Scout, I cannot even count. It's a wealth of experiences and knowledge. I also had a physical fitness goal to become a black belt in karate which I am one test away from achieving this goal also.”
“I have learned so much and grown even more just getting to this point. When I first started, all the goals seemed huge, but diligence and focus has led me to earning ALL of them,” Liam said.
If you would like to learn more about the Congressional Award, including what Liam did to earn it and how we can get more of your students involved, please contact dambrosi@congressionalaward.org.
“We are very proud of Liam and hope we can work together to recognize more outstanding youth,” said the award office.
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