Doc VN-003 · Leadership & service record

Leadership & Service

Scouting, the Congressional Award, and 400+ hours of community service. The pattern is the same everywhere: take responsibility, do the work consistently, then help the next person up.

Sec 01 · Detail views

Scouting

Detail A

Senior Patrol Leader, Troop 58

2021–Present

Five years of youth leadership, working up through Patrol Leader, Instructor, and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader to Senior Patrol Leader of a troop of roughly 55 Scouts. The SPL runs troop operations: weekly meetings, the annual program plan, monthly leadership councils, campouts, and service projects, while mentoring younger Scouts along the way.

Leadership training through the White Stag Sierra Leadership Development Program, and an Eagle Scout service project currently in progress. The leadership habits built here, planning, delegation, teaching, accountability, are the same ones I use as a robotics captain.

Progression: Scout → leader roles → expedition planner → SPL
Detail B

High adventure: the Triple Crown

Philmont · Northern Tier · Sea Base

Completed all three BSA High Adventure programs, Scouting's Triple Crown: a multi-day wilderness backpacking trek at Philmont Scout Ranch, a Northern Tier wilderness expedition, and Sea Base, which I didn't just attend. I planned and led the Sea Base experience, organizing and preparing the crew and carrying peer leadership through the expedition itself.

Sea Base: Planned & led · Philmont, Northern Tier: crew member
Sec 02 · Detail views

Congressional Award

Detail C

Gold Medal, 2026

Congress's award for American youth

Earned the Congressional Award Gold Medal by completing multi-year goals across all four program areas: voluntary public service, personal development, physical fitness, and expedition/exploration. Attended the 2026 Gold Medal Summit on Capitol Hill and met with members of Virginia's congressional delegation.

Then I turned it around: in 2026 I founded the BRHS Congressional Award Club and serve as its coach and peer mentor, helping other students register, set goals, and stay accountable through the same journey.

One medal in, the goal is helping classmates earn theirs
Sec 03 · Field notes

Service

Over 400 hours of community service across food rescue, wildlife conservation, STEM education, robotics mentoring, and FIRST outreach.

Food rescue

NEST4US · 2024–Present

Weekly surplus food recovery from businesses across Northern Virginia, including Panera Bread, Chick-fil-A, KFC, Wawa, Crumbl, Olive Garden, and Whole Foods, supporting distribution to people who need it. Contributed over 100 hours in 2025 and received NEST4US's Heart of Gold Volunteer Service Award, presented by Virginia State Senator Kannan Srinivasan and Delegate David A. Reid.

Bluebird monitoring

Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy · 2023–Present

Citizen science fieldwork most Saturday mornings for over two years: monitoring 40 bluebird nesting boxes across Zephaniah Farm Vineyard and the Goose Creek Trail, logging nesting activity week over week. Named a Volunteer of the Month in 2025.

Sec 04 · Field notes

Long games

The commitments that run on years, not seasons.

Taekwondo

Since kindergarten · 2nd-degree black belt

Training since kindergarten, now a second-degree black belt progressing toward third, with 200+ logged hours of fitness work as part of the Congressional Award. The longest-running feedback loop I have: practice, persistence, increasing difficulty.

Piano

Six years · From 3rd grade

Roughly six years of study beginning in third grade. A different kind of precision work from the shop, and the same lesson about repetition.

Small Modular Reactor Summer Academy

George Mason University · Aug 2026

An intensive STEM academy on small modular reactors, nuclear energy, and advanced engineering systems at the university level. Engineering exploration beyond robotics, into how the grid of the future gets built.

Sec 05 · Title block

Contact

Title Velan Natarajan · Leadership & service record
Sheet 3 of 3
Rev A
Drawn by V. Natarajan
Location Ashburn, Virginia
Date Aug 2026
Scale NTS
Email velan@velannatarajan.com
GitHub github.com/your-username
LinkedIn in/velan-natarajan