By Carolynn Spencer
Back when Founders Classical Academy junior, and Flower Mound resident, Brian Woodland was in eighth grade, his dad asked him if he had ever heard of the Congressional Award.
Brian hadn’t, but after looking into this prestigious award, he decided to go for it.
Earning the Congressional Award takes monumental effort.
It requires completing 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of physical fitness, and 200 hours of personal development, as well as planning a five-day, four-night “expedition.”
Brian, the youngest of six children, said his parents supported him wholeheartedly and even participated in many of the service projects alongside him.
For years, in addition to his studies, football, job and other commitments, Brian devoted nearly every Saturday to serving his community in order to achieve his daunting goal. After his first project—just five hours—he was overwhelmed by how long his goal would take.
But he didn’t give up.
Brian’s greatest resource for finding service opportunities was JustServe.org, a website that enables community volunteers to find a wide variety of service projects in their area. Brian, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, especially loved working with his family to create gift bags for Pedi Place, a nonprofit pediatric clinic in Lewisville, and volunteered many hours with Keep Flower Mound Beautiful.
While Brian admitted it wasn’t always easy to head out to serve, it was always worth it.
“My favorite part was all of the service and how good it made me feel,” he said. “Driving to the service project is always completely different than driving back.”
Brian found the physical fitness component of the award to be the easiest, thanks to his love of sports. In middle school, he participated in football, basketball, soccer, cross-country and track.
Once in high school, Brian focused solely on football, saying, “It was really fun just practicing and hanging out with the guys.”
For his personal development goal, Brian chose to improve himself for his “community and nation” by working toward his Eagle Scout Award with the Boy Scouts of America.
Finally, to fulfill the expedition requirement, Brian planned a trip to New York City with his family and prepared the itinerary to ensure everyone would enjoy it.
“I had never been to a big, urban city before,” he said. “I wanted to see what the lifestyle was like, and I thought it was really cool. It was really interesting seeing how everyone was busy at all times; I just loved the environment.”
Being busy is obviously something that Brian can relate to, and in some ways, he was too busy for things other teenagers get to enjoy.
“I did have to miss out on some time hanging out with friends,” he said. “But looking back, it was completely worth it.”
After completing his hours to qualify for the Congressional Award, Brian was honored alongside other students from across the country during a four-day celebration in Washington, D.C., from June 11-14.
This year, 19 students from Texas earned this prestigious award, alongside approximately 200 total recipients nationwide. While in D.C., Brian also had the opportunity to meet personally with Congressman Brandon Gill.
“It feels good to know I can do hard things,” said Brian about his experience. “Whenever I have a big thing I want to accomplish, I can use this as a framework of how to get it done: setting goals and moving forward little by little.”
Brian is a vibrant, confident, disciplined and impressive young man with a bright future ahead. There is no doubt that the character growth he has gained while earning the Congressional Award will serve him and his community well in the years to come.
