The Importance of Veterans Inspires this Junior

 Bridget Martin ’24 remembers hearing about the Voice of Democracy contest, sponsored by the VFW, as far back as middle school. This year, she finally submitted an essay and much to her surprise, she won at the local level and now will continue to the district level.

“I entered this year because I liked the prompt,” Bridget says. “I thought it would be a good chance to try something new, and I would get extra credit, but I never expected to win.”

This year’s prompt was: “Why is the Veteran Important?”

“The theme of my essay was, ‘The Veteran is important because veterans never stop being veterans,’ “Bridget says. “I describe how war impacts people and that the effects of war never go away, because veterans live with the ramifications of war and citizens live with the security and comfort the Veterans provide.”

Bridget is the daughter of Mrs. Maureen Martin, Social Studies Department chair, but it wasn’t only her mother who inspired her. It was her uncles, on her mother’s side, who are veterans.

“They all inspired my essay,” Bridget says, “because I used what I see in them to form my ideas and perceptions of Veterans and war.”

Bridget is a member of Student Council and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), while competing on the Scholastic Bowl team and making costumes for the theater program in her spare time.

She follows in the footsteps of another Saint Viator student who advanced in the VFW Voices of Democracy contest, Paulina Piwowarczyk ’17. Paulina was the valedictorian of her class and attended Harvard University. She graduated last year and now is a clinical research assistant at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. 

Each year, nearly 25,000 high schools across the country enter the contest. They have the chance to win a share of more than $2 million in educational scholarships and incentives awarded through the program. 

Already, Bridget has learned she will receive a check and certificate from VFW Post 981. They Arlington Heights-based post also takes in veterans from Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling. 

She now will compete at the District 4 level, with local winners from VFW posts from Chicago’s North and Northwest suburbs.