- December 16, 2025
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For Karla Medina, a Braden River High junior originally from Mexico, patriotism can be a lot of different things.
It is not simply wearing red, white and blue. To her, it involves actions.
She sees patriotism as participating in acts of service, such as volunteering at hospitals, promoting recycling, helping out veterans, and assisting people who are in need of food.
That assist doesn't even have to be confined to the U.S. She said patriotism can be shown by helping people in need in places such as Jamaica after that country was hit by Hurricane Melissa.
“Some people say immigrants don't bring that much to this country, so I try my best through acts of service to prove them wrong,” Medina said.
Medina and six other high school students earned awards for their essays that explored the question, “How are you showing patriotism and support for our country?”
The contest for the Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program was hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 12055. Dave Daily, post commander for VFW Post 12055 Braden River, said there is one winner for every 15 essays submitted. This year that meant seven winners.
Of the seven, five of them are in the Braden River Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps — Medina, Mystique Quinones, Tuong Thai, Wilendjie Medea and Marfil Trejo. Outside of JROTC, the winners were Braden River High’s Riley McGee, and Liam Egerdahl, who is homeschooled in Parrish.
After the winners were selected, they had to record an audio version of their essays that would run three to five minutes.
Each winner was awarded $100 and will receive a plaque later in the school year. They also have the opportunity to submit their essay to the national competition for a chance to win a $35,000 scholarship.
Trejo, a senior, was shocked and grateful when she was announced as one of the winners. She said she is looking forward to pursuing the national prize.
"In my words, patriotism means showing and giving deep love and devotion to my country, as well as showing respect, honor, and loyalty to the country which I call home," Trejo wrote in her essay. "Living in this country is a privilege and honor. I’m truly grateful for the freedom and opportunities I’ve been given since birth."
For Medea, who is from Haiti and moved to Bradenton in September 2024, patriotism means respecting the country's heritage and wanting to contribute to the future.
“It is not only about expressing pride on grand occasions, but about proving it day-by-day in one's connection to the country's traditions, culture, and people,” Medea wrote in her essay. “This feeling seems necessary to me and to everyone. It unites and strengthens solidarity and it protects national identity in the process.”
Daily said being around the young essay winners, especially those in JROTC, strengthens his hope for the future of the county and community.
Mystique Quinones, a junior, said being in JROTC has greatly impacted her life and patriotism. She plans to go to the U.S. Marines, eventually earn a medical degree, and then enter the U.S, Navy as a medic.
"The JROTC uniform is worn to represent discipline, pride and belonging within the corps," Quinones wrote in her essay. "The uniform makes me feel like I am more a part of the country. The uniform is a huge thing for me because I think it gives me a better sense of what it's like to be a part of a community."
For Michael Massmann, the senior Army instructor at Braden River, reading and hearing the essays of his students gives him an opportunity to get to know his students better. He appreciates the glimpse into their thoughts.
“In the end, patriotism is not one single act, it is a daily choice,” Medina wrote in her essay. “It is the respect I show when I pause for the Pledge (of Allegiance), and the service I give when l volunteer. My patriotism might not be seen, but it is steady and it is real. By choosing to respect, to serve, and to contribute, I show my patriotism not only in words, but through action as well.”
