Prep Talk

Evan Doliszny: Congressional Award Gold Medal Recipient

Posted May 9th, 2019

Last week, Evan Doliszny ’20 was awarded The Congressional Award Gold Medal by the State of New Jersey. As a Congressional Gold Medalist, Evan is only one of approximately 450 students nationwide to receive this highest honor and only one of 20 in the State of New Jersey. Evan will be honored and awarded his Gold Medal by United States Congressman Jeff Van Drew at a U.S. Congressional ceremony this June 20 at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.

The Congressional Award is an award for aspiring students, established by the United States Congress in 1979 to recognize exceptional  “Initiative, Achievement, and Service” in young Americans. The Congressional Award recognizes the meeting and exceeding of self- initiative goals in four program areas: Voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration. Based on time commitments to each of the areas, participants earn Bronze, Silver, or Gold Congressional Award Certificates.

Under the direction of the City of Ocean City’s Community Service Dept over the past 2 ½ years, Evan dedicated an abundance of his personal time serving his community. He completed over 611 hours of volunteer public service.  

His international exploration initiative was associated with a strong interest in exploring Middle Eastern traditions, culture, history, and a desire to strengthen his language proficiency in Arabic through Arabic immersion. Evan was one of only 18 students in the USA awarded a full NSLI-Y scholarship by the US State Department last summer, he spent 7 weeks in an Arabic immersion program in Amman Jordan.