For 17-year-old Jessica Lee, earning the highest youth honor presented by the U.S. Congress was not the result of a single achievement. It came from hundreds of hours spent serving her community, years on the golf course, music rehearsals, an expedition and a determination to keep learning outside the classroom. The Punahou School senior from Honolulu received the Congressional Award Gold Medal in August, joining 877 young people across the country recognized with the honor this year, states the Aloha State Daily.
420 hours serving her community
For the uninitiated, the Congressional Award Gold Medal recognizes young people who complete a demanding two-year program covering voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness and an expedition or exploration. Recipients must complete at least 400 hours of voluntary public service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness and a five-day, four-night expedition. Lee exceeded the service requirement with 420 hours of volunteer work, much of it connected to health care and older adults. Her interest in the medical field was shaped in part by her grandfather’s experience with lung cancer in Korea. His difficulties navigating diagnosis and treatment, including misinformation, influenced Lee’s interest in health literacy and patient advocacy.At St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaiʻi, she spent time with elderly patients, interacted with medical professionals and observed health-care settings firsthand. She also saw how language barriers could make it difficult for some families to understand medical information and participate fully in decisions about their care.
Turning health advocacy into action
Lee eventually founded the Cancer Health Awareness & Mindfulness Program, or CHAMP, a nonprofit focused on improving health literacy. Through the program, she organizes workshops covering cancer risks, prevention and local resources. CHAMP also partnered with the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center Skin Van for a skin cancer awareness event at Ala Moana Beach Park. Her community work extends to Punahou, where she helps lead Caring of the Elderly, a program serving kūpuna in Mānoa twice each month.
A state champion on the golf course
Outside her volunteer work, Lee has spent much of her life on the golf course. She began playing at age 4 after her family moved from New York to Hawaiʻi. She competes on Punahou’s Varsity I girls golf team, which won the state championship three consecutive years. Lee also finished second in the state in 2024. Golf became another part of her personal-development journey, demanding discipline while teaching her to recover from mistakes and keep moving through difficult rounds.
Music, travel and cultural advocacy
Lee’s interests extend well beyond medicine and athletics. She began playing violin in fourth grade and joined her school’s orchestra the following year, developing an appreciation for different musical repertoires. A spring 2025 trip to Boston added another challenge. She toured college campuses, visited museums and explored the city, navigating public transportation and the subway for the first time.Her advocacy for Korean heritage has also been a long-running project. Beginning in seventh grade, Lee pushed for greater inclusion of Korean language and heritage in school curricula. She created a petition signed by 300 students and brought the issue to neighborhood boards and the Hawaiʻi Legislature.
Looking toward medicine
Congressman Ed Case presented Lee with her Gold Medal and a certificate of special recognition in August. She became the seventh person from his district to receive the honor over the past 25 years. Now, as she applies to colleges, Lee is looking toward a future at the intersection of public health and culture. Her goal is to become a physician while continuing to focus on health literacy and helping patients better understand their medical choices. For a teenager balancing school, sport, music, advocacy and hundreds of volunteer hours, the Congressional Award marks less a finish line than a record of what she has already built, and a foundation for the work ahead.Images Courtesy: Congressman Ed Case
