By Courtney Singer
Law Offices of Buzzell, Welsh & Hill
The Law Offices of Buzzell, Welsh & Hill, a personal injury law firm in Macon, recently announced the winner of its 2019 college scholarship program. The firm will award a $2,500 educational scholarship to Adrian Robert Thomas, Jr. Adrian, a third-year student at the University of Georgia (UGA), is pursuing a marketing degree from the school’s Terry College of Business.
Scholarship applicants were required to write a short essay in which they create and write a law that would help reduce automobile accidents.
The law firm created this scholarship opportunity to help the next generation of college and technical school students bring their academic and professional goals to life. “We know it has become incredibly difficult for students to pay for the higher education they often need in today’s working environment,” said Stephen Welsh, managing partner at Buzzell, Welsh & Hill. “We want to help make it possible for anyone — no matter their financial circumstances — to achieve their professional potential.”
“As attorneys, we’re always conscious of the way new laws affect driver safety on the road,” Welsh added. “We felt this contest would show us what’s on young driver’s minds today — what’s concerning them the most and what they hope they, along with activists and lawmakers, may be able to change.”
In his essay, Adrian proposes offering all high school students free driver’s education courses that would also serve as a graduation requirement. Many students are currently unable to pay course fees, he said, preventing them from taking the driving classes that could help them become safe drivers.
While Adrian applauds the recently implemented Georgia hands-free law, he feels like it’s not had enough impact on reducing automobile crashes due to the lack of enforceability. He feels strongly that passing a law requiring all high school students to complete the free driver’s education course would result in “a huge decrease in the number of automobile accidents for those age 15 to 19 and a steady decline of total accidents.”
Adrian graduated from Twiggs County High School in 2017 as the class valedictorian. He is the second person in his family to attend college. Active in a variety of campus organizations, Adrian serves as an ambassador for the Georgia Daze Minority Recruitment Program, a representative for the Residential Hall Association, a member of both the Clarke County Mentorship Program and the Best Mentor Program, and a member of the leadership team for the Road Dawgs. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and watching his favorite sports teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Adrian describes himself as a friendly, humble, and original individual who greatly values family and friendships. His motto is “Live life to the fullest.”
“Life only happens once,” says Adrian, “and if you want to be truly happy, you cannot dwell on past failures, and you cannot put all your focus on the future. You must focus on living fully in the present, which is the way I want to live my life.”
After college, Adrian hopes to work for a small- to medium-sized company specializing in clothing or sports. For now, he is focusing on learning the marketing side of business and working on getting a “solid grasp” on its counterpart in logistics. He says he’s always keeping his eyes open for opportunities that will help him achieve his goal of opening his own business someday.
You must be logged in to post a comment.