Recollect wins Rep. Lou Correa’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 46th District
Rep. Correa has named Matthew Bersalona, a 12th grader at Oxford Academy, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 46th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Recollect, the student said, “A few months ago, I reached one of the lowest points of my life, feeling depressed and hopeless because of the fact that I was doing nothing good with my life. Even though I knew that I had important things to do, I was consumed by my video game addiction. The turning point was when I saw a YouTube video titled “How I glowed up naturally (in less than a year)”. This video helped me improve my mental health by making me realize that I was feeling horrible about myself because I was treating myself horribly. With this realization, I became more organized with my life, which led to me being more productive and feeling better about myself. The shocking fact about high school students, especially those at my school, is that many of them can relate to having poor mental health at some point. Mental health is a silent epidemic that plagues teens for a majority of their lives, which is why I tried to tackle it with Recollect. By creating a healthy mental space for the user, their mental health should improve over time. Even if it is not a solution for everyone, I hope this app can be used to better their lifestyles.”
This year’s Challenge saw an unprecedented level of participation, with 374 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions, surpassing the previous record of 340. A remarkable 11,334 students from across the United States competed in this year’s Challenge, marking an impressive increase of nearly 1,000 participants compared to the previous record set in 2019. The enthusiasm and creativity these students display is a testament to the growing interest in technology and signal a bright future for American innovation. The surge of ingenuity continued with a whopping 3,645 original applications flooding in, nearly a thousand more than the previous year’s high. This remarkable growth showcases the exceptional talent and innovation within our nation’s youth.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. This resounding show of bipartisan support emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2024, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.