Going for the gold
Two young men from North Idaho are thinking about their futures, and have earned Congressional Awards before even finishing high school.
Sam Cuentas, 14, of Post Falls; and Mason Magee, 15, of Coeur d'Alene, received Silver Congressional Awards at the 2014 Idaho Congressional Award ceremony Aug. 11 in Boise.
Of 30 Idaho youths to receive the awards, Sam and Mason were the only two from North Idaho. The ceremony was attended by Congressman Raul Labrador, Sen. Mike Crapo and Sen. Jim Risch, who placed the medals around the deserving youths' necks.
"It's kind of hard to describe," Sam said. "I would have to say it's pretty amazing, pretty mind-blowing. It's like, 'I shook his hand, I'm never going to wash it again.'"
"What was actually going through my mind was, 'I hope my hair is down,' because my mom does not like my hair up for some reason," Mason said, smiling.
The Congressional Award program challenges youths to become involved in their communities and try new activities. The bronze, silver and gold awards require hundreds of hours of volunteering and completing goals in the four program areas: volunteer public service, personal development, physical fitness and expedition/exploration.
Sam, who is home-schooled, volunteers with Special Needs Recreation, at a thrift store in Post Falls and hopes to soon be a volunteer at Kootenai Health. He completed the necessary amount of swimming to reach program goals, became active with Christian Youth Theater and planned trips along the Selkirk Loop and south to Clarkia, Idaho, to go star garnet hunting for the expedition/exploration goal.
"I consider myself as kind of an overachiever. It's kind of annoying sometimes," Sam said with a grin. "I make everything harder than it should be."
Mason, a Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy sophomore, volunteers at Kootenai Health, completed goals with cross-country and track and field, plays the trombone and mastered an itinerary for a Washington, D.C., trip with his family, which actually completed the requirements for the gold level of the Congressional Award.
Both young gentlemen have big scholastic and career goals in mind, goals that will be helped along with their involvement in the Congressional Award program. They are both interested in the medical field. Mason wants to be an anesthesiologist and Sam wants to be a plastic surgeon.
"Plastic surgery and hand specialist. They kind of go hand in hand. No pun intended," Sam said. "OK, fine, pun intended."
Their proud moms, Fondra Magee and Lori Cuentas, know their sons had to push themselves and meet their goals, as well as complete plenty of paperwork to log hours and document activities.
"He hasn't complained. He gets up and goes to the hospital. He loves it," Fondra said of Mason. "It's nice to see him getting recognition for the kid that he is anyway, stuff he's doing because he wants to make a difference or enjoys it."
Lori is currently advising three other kids as well as encouraging her own son to continue along his path of excellence as he works toward the gold.
"Some of (the activities) stretched him a bit," she said. "Five years ago, he would have never dreamed of being in theater, so it was nice to try something new and it was an incentive to do that, to make friends and learn from that."
She added that all the young people in the area could pursue the program, but must understand it takes diligence, perseverance and organizational skills.
"Anybody can do it, but not everybody will do it," Sam said. "Later on, in the long run, it does so much for you."
"I would definitely recommend it to people who are really interested in going into college," Mason said. "But the question is, are people going to do it?"
Mason and Sam are now pursuing Gold Congressional Awards, which are presented annually in Washington, D.C.
The program only costs $15 to register and each participant needs an adviser who is not related. Youths can begin when they are 13 and a half, and the programs must be completed by the age of 23.
Info: www.congressionalaward.org.