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| Laura Ng being recognized as the 2nd place finisher in the Massachusetts DAR Good Citizen Scholarship Contest |
Senior Laura Ng is a member of our National Honor Society and the Treasurer of the Class of 2014. In addition to these accolades, Laura also recently placed second in the state in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Good Citizen Scholarship Contest. The DAR Good Citizens program allows students across the state to be recognized for demonstrating "to an outstanding degree the qualities of good citizenship: dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. Laura received Nipmuc's nomination for this award and proceeded to be recognized at the state level. On Saturday, March 22 Laura was honored at the DAR state conference and luncheon at which she received a certificate and an American flag which was flown over Mount Vernon. I had the chance to ask Laura a few questions about this tremendous honor.
The award honors those who have "demonstrated, to an outstanding degree, the qualities of a good citizen: dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.” What type of activities have you engaged in that are focused in these areas?
Service has taught me the importance of the four qualities of a DAR Good Citizen. Service has always been important to me and I’ve participated in a multitude of service projects with my peers. I’ve gone on mission trips to serve inner city homeless populations in Boston and Philadelphia, helped to rebuild a school courtyard whilst on a trip in Ecuador and taught computer classes to local senior citizens on a weekly basis. Through my experience serving, I have found that leading and dependability are just as important as the service you provide. With any type of service, you are given a task, but you soon find out that in order to complete your job, and complete it well, you must take some initiative and be accountable for your actions for it to be worthwhile. Finally, I have found through service that patriotism is what keeps a volunteer modest. Patriotism can be pride in a country or simply pride in your cause but when the bigger picture is kept in mind, a humility critical to good service always follows.
What was the most enjoyable part of the awards luncheon at the DAR Annual State Conference? What did you take away from the chance to speak with members of the group?
Definitely the chocolate cake. Just kidding! While the entire lunch and chocolate cake was delicious my favorite part about the luncheon was having the opportunity to speak with women who were so devoted to their organization’s philosophy and cause to serve their country. The pride, unity and warmth displayed by the DAR are positively inspiring.
Ms. McNamara [Laura's guidance counselor who attended the luncheon with her] mentioned how impressed she was with your comments at the luncheon. Can you share some of the thoughts you mentioned when speaking at the event?
Going into the event I was not expecting to have to speak so I was extremely nervous going up. If I remember correctly now, I thanked the DAR for their generosity and expressed how impressed I was/am with the organization and all that they stand for. I also thanked them for showcasing the hard work of the students in attendance and giving us all the opportunity to continue to work and serve our communities in the same way they do their own.
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Throughout Laura's entire high school career she has continually demonstrated the traits of a good citizen. It's no surprise to those who know her well that Laura would be identified as one of the best student-citizens in our state. Congratulations, Laura. Thank you for your dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism!
Thank you for reading this "Feature Friday" post. I encourage you to view last week's post about the National Honor Society. Please note that last week's post has been updated to include profiles for Chereen Chalak, Jared Plumb, and Jay Patel who were omitted in the initial post. You can access that post here.
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