The Congressional Award shares a national partnership with the
AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) program.
Each year, hundreds of young Corps members earn a
Congressional Award through their AmeriCorps NCCC Service.

I participated in the Congressional Award through the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. Upon entering the program, I was told that I was now part of a legacy of volunteer work. It was made clear to me, to wear my uniform everyday to wear the “A” was an honor, one honor I should respect and be proud of. At first, I had doubts about this sentiment, but what was really going on was I could not understand what was meant by it. That was until I was sent to work with the Red Cross due to the massive flooding along the Mississippi River.

In the first meeting I attended with my team at Headquarters, the head of the Red Cross operation expressed how excited she was to have an NCCC team on site. She had worked with NCCC before and knew the attitude we would be bring to the job. An attitude of getting things done no matter how small or large, no matter how difficult, and no matter how long. Her praise resulted in a roaring round of applause from the rest of the volunteers in the room. I remember feeling silly because I felt I had not done anything yet. But that is when it hit me. By pledging ten months of my life to this program and volunteer service, I had become a part of something much bigger than I had realized. The feeling was humbling. It was some months later, while at a completely separate project in my NCCC term, that I thought again of the words spoken about us at the Red Cross. My team was working hard to fulfill a task when our sponsor had to ask us to stop working so he could finally head home for the day. Without realizing it, my teammates and I had developed the attitude the woman from the red cross had attributed to us long before we knew what it meant. Before we were aware of it, she had known about the “A” and the people who accept the challenge of putting it on everyday.

The truth is in order to make your community and your country become a better place you cannot always be concerned about what you are doing. The beauty of this program is when I was having a bad day, allowing my frustrations to create the illusion that the job my team had been assigned was meaningless, there was no doubt a team somewhere else, working overtime as hard as they could in order to improve the lives of those around them. There are jobs that need to get done and it may seem like almost anyone holds the ability to do them. Yet, what participants in the Congressional Award Program and AmeriCorps come to learn, is that it takes a special talent to have the motivation and dedication to actually buckle down and get tasks done.






~Michael Collins
2011 Bronze Medalist and AmeriCorps NCCC Corps member




Michael (right), is congratulated by his
parents after earning his Bronze Medal.

From left to right: Gold Medalist Alexander Serrano,
Gold Medalist Ashleigh Serrano, U.S. Senator Scott Brown (Massachusetts),
Gold Medalist Catherine Aker, and Gold Medalist Anthony Serrano.

The Congressional Award appealed to me in my youth because of my passion for and commitment to community service. I was always looking for different ways to be involved in community service projects, and when I heard about the Congressional Award from a friend in my home town I thought of it as a natural extension to my interests and knew it was something I wanted to be involved in.

Working to attain goals I set for myself in the categories of Volunteer Public Service, Personal Development, Physical Fitness and Expedition/Exploration was an extremely rewarding experience- one where I met amazing people, organized a successful clothing drive for a homeless shelter, started a profitable jewelry business, was an active member and captain of various varsity sports teams and organized and participated in an expedition/exploration trip – just to name a few of the incredible experiences I was part of during my journey for the Congressional Award. Keeping a journal and logging my hours for the Congressional Award taught me to stay organized and was a great way to reflect on all the hard work I put into my gold medal.

The lessons and experiences I gained from the Congressional Award are ones I have been able to carry with me throughout my life. I found myself using the organizational and time management skills I learned from my time with the Congressional Award during college and being very grateful I had that experience under my belt. Now that I am in the work world, I find myself reverting back to and talking about my experiences with the Congressional Award and how it set me up to have a positive future— the Congressional Award is for people who are willing to work hard and make a difference.

The Congressional Award’s influence on your life does not go away once you receive your award; in fact, receiving the award is just the beginning. Your time with the Congressional Award is the brick work for the foundation of your life. You learn how to challenge yourself, work hard and truly make a difference in other people’s lives and in your own. Everything that you do after is influenced by the Congressional Award, and I really believe that I am a better person because of my experience with the Congressional Award. I hope that you too see the benefits of the Congressional Award and challenge yourself to become a Congressional Award recipient. It will change your life for the better!


~Ashleigh Alexandra L. Serrano
2010 Gold Medalist