Vinod Vairavaraj

How did you earn your Congressional Award?

My name is Vinod Vairavaraj and I am currently a senior at Cypress High School. My goal with the Congressional program was to explore activities that I would have never encountered in my ordinary school life.

For the volunteer hour portion, I worked in a local youth center in their after-school program. I would watch over the kids after school. After the completion of the hour requirement, I was asked to come aboard as a staff and have continued since.

For physical activity, I aimed to improve my physical ability by running. I was able to bring down my mile time from 8 minutes to 6 minutes and was able to be much healthier.

For personal development, I learned how to read and write in Tamil, my home language. I was a part of a local Tamil class and made significant progress in grammar and writing structure.

For exploration, I was able to take a virtual expedition in Japan. This is a country I am planning to visit next summer and getting to research and learn about the culture will undoubtedly give me a better experience in the future.

This program allowed me to explore a variety of different topics that I would never have considered and helped me develop as an individual.

What are your current ambitions?

Currently, my ambition is to develop my skills in cybersecurity as this is my desired career pathway. By taking community college courses to supplement my independent study, I am preparing myself for my career. Currently working as an intern, this effort will improve my work performance and build my knowledge.

What motivates you?

Throughout my experience, my motivation has come from my desire to share computer security. In recent times, a lack of computer security has resulted in devastating headlines. With the people suffering due to data breaches and exploits. I hope that my work in cybersecurity will help prevent these types of stories. That the public’s livelihood will not be affected by hackers and computer attacks.  

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