As a freshman at St. John’s College High School in Washington, Tom Braden began competing in wrestling.
“It was transformative for me. I got more athletic and a lot more confident in my ability,” he said. Participating in the sport offered lessons in perseverance and the importance of putting in the effort to succeed, he said.
This year, Braden was the varsity wrestling captain at St. John’s, and he won his 150-lb. weight division. His team took second place in the D.C. prep tournament, and he came in second in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference competition.
The son of Laura and Phil Braden, he is 18 and has an older brother Ollie who is 20. His younger sister Cara is 14 and attends Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda.
For Tom Braden – whose family attends St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase – another transformative experience for him at St. John’s has been the Catholic education offered there.
“St. John’s really helped me grow in my faith a lot. Before coming here, I was not religious in my day-to-day life,” said Braden.
At the coed Catholic high school sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, he served as a peer minister, helping lead religious retreats for underclassmen and assisting at orientations and open houses.
For his school service trip, he joined St. John’s students in volunteering at the De La Salle Blackfeet School in Browning, Montana, working with Native American children there and learning about their culture and history.
The St. John’s senior expressed appreciation for the school’s Catholic identity. “I had some good religion teachers,” he said. “…Overall being at a Catholic school, having that community rooted in faith, showed me a different aspect. A lot of times you think about faith as between me and God. To have a faith community that’s involved and working together, that was rewarding to me.”
This fall, Braden will be attending Princeton University, where he has been accepted into its School of Engineering. His interest in that field was sparked by his participation in St. John’s Robotics Team.
“I’ve always been good at math and science,” said Braden, who explained that the students on the Robotics Team work together to make a robot that can do certain tasks, and they compete in a competition. “I really enjoy designing something with a group of people and seeing that design come to life,” he said.
Braden took part in the De La Salle Scholars Program that provides opportunities for St. John’s highest achieving students to pursue intellectual pursuits outside the classroom. At St. John’s, he also participated in the Latin Club, and Latin was one of his favorite classes.
“Learning the language, you can see a lot of the roots of words in English. That came in handy with the SAT” test, he said, noting that he also enjoyed learning about ancient Roman history in the Latin Club.
He was also a representative in the Student Government Association at the school.
As his St. John’s College High School graduation on June 6 approached, Braden reflected on the impact of his school experience. “The Lasallian School aspect is something I’ll remember, that whole idea (that you) enter to learn and leave to serve,” he said.
He said that in peer ministry, they discussed how to keep your faith journey moving forward. As for his upcoming college experience, Braden said, “I hope to learn in college what’s possible for the future.”
