Tulsa teen wins Congressional Gold Medal

A 17-year-old from Tulsa will meet with Oklahoma lawmakers in Washington, DC.

He is one of only three Oklahomans to win the Congressional Gold Medal this year.

It is the highest civilian honor bestowed on young people by Congress.

As the saying goes, old habits die hard. The Drew Eberts have been formed over the past four years.

“I don’t do it for the price anymore,” he said. “I do it because it’s a habit and because I really want to help others.”

Because of his actions, Drew is now the recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal.

“I was in a bit of a state of disbelief for a while. I had to double-check the numbers and make sure everything matched because I’ve been working on it for four years,” he said.

To win this award, Drew had to meet the program's requirements: 400 hours of community service, 200 hours of personal development, 200 hours of physical fitness and a five-day expedition.

He started working towards his goal when he was 13 years old.

During those years, Drew volunteered at the food bank, shadowed people in different careers including meteorologists at News On 6, and even participated in a 21-day hike.

“That’s a lot of hours of fitness,” he said.

While he's happy to see the hard work paying off, Drew says it's more about the lessons he's learned along the way.

“I didn't really understand until a long time after I started, how long it would take me and how long it would take, it had become a habit to keep doing it, but I think even then I would have been really happy how much this program has really changed me,” Drew said.

His path does not stop there because these habits will last beyond the gold medal.

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