Upper St. Clair Senior Wins Congressional Awards Gold Medal

UPPER ST. CLAIR, PA - Upper St. Clair High School senior Ayush Sharm has been selected as a 2019 gold medalist in the Congressional Awards program. Ayush Sharma. He’ll representing Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District when he is recognized at the annual Gold Medal Ceremony in Washington, D.C. this summer.

The requirements for the award are stringent. They include include 400 hours of volunteer service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness and a five-day expedition all over the course of two years.

“Each of my four domains of the award were focused on one or two actual activities, as the award strives for continuity throughout two years,” Sharm said in a district release. “All of these goals were written in September of my sophomore year.”

Sharm completed his volunteer service at St. Clair Hospital and his temple. His professional development goal focused on preparing for the competitive workforce and was fulfilled by his involvement in the high school’s speech and debate team and his part-time job at Kumon Math and Reading Center.

As a member of the high school’s varsity tennis team, Sharm focused his physical fitness goals on improving his performance on the court.

But the award requirement that had the most impact was the expedition.
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“My expedition experience was one of everlasting impact as I traveled to Bulandshahr, India, which is 3 hours east of New Delhi, with my father, Dr. Vijaya Kumar of Wayne State University, and his pre-medical students to teach public and general health to rural and impoverished areas,” he said. “My trip lasted a week and consisted of teaching simple yet unknown concepts of wound care, hand washing and CPR.”

Sharm plans to major in biomedical engineering in college before applying to medical school. At Upper St. Clair High School, his activities include the speech and debate team, Future Business Leaders of America, National Honor Society and varsity boys’ tennis team.

Photo via Upper St. Clair School District.

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