Winners Selected for Scholarship Award!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the second of the three scholarship contests for the year 2025. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to write, research, and share intimate stories about the importance of driver education.

Some essay submissions dealt with being involved in a motor vehicle accident and the tragic aftermath. Others, sadly, even deal with the loss of life due to a motor vehicle crash. Sharing your story could save a life by introducing how grave the consequences of driver distraction can be. We applaud you for taking the issue seriously enough to educate others about it.

The quality of the submissions this year was as excellent as ever. This year, we received many submissions, many with the assistance of AI technology, making our task of selecting a winner much more difficult. We truly wish we could award every participant for their efforts. So many well-written and researched papers dealt with the importance of driver education. We truly enjoyed reading the submissions and will continue to share your stories, thoughts, and suggestions on what we can do to save lives and ensure the safety of all those who share our roadways.

Now, let's announce the winners of this round. The most shared essay, with 3648 votes, is:

• "Driving is not a Right" by Kendyl Meeker

Great job Kendyl.

With a close second and deserving of a runner-up with 3222 votes is

• "How Many Headlines Before We Change?" by Tanannum Azad Arufa

Great job Tanannum!

Selecting the winner for staff favorite was difficult, as it always is. Each staff member selected their favorite, and the winning essay was randomly chosen from the staff favorites. It was the only way to pick our favorite, as there were many great submissions. For staff favorites, we chose six winners. In no particular order, the winners are:

• Kathryn Bailey, "The Moment That Changes Everything: A Former FDNY EMT’s View of Teen Driving"

• Anna Marie Smith, "A Life Changed Forever: Why Teen Driver Safety Matters"

• Shivam Gupta, "The Split-Second That Changed Everything: A Teen’s Reflection on Driving Safety"

• Shawn Ray, "The Weight of a Ghost on the Passenger Seat"

• Emalie Tackett, "Blinker in the Dark: How a Near‑Miss, a Miley Cyrus Concert, and a Minivan Full of Family Turned Me Into a Safer Driver Advocate"

• Beaux Beattie, "The Cost of Distraction"

Great job everyone!

We wish we could award every participant, as reading your essays was a true pleasure. We say this every year, but it bears repeating. Ideally, there would be no need for scholarship contests, and every citizen would be assured a free college education. As you know, a high school degree does not go too far these days, and to limit one’s access to a good education and God-given potential because of a lack of resources is truly unjust when we have the means to provide otherwise.  So, it is also up to you to declare that you wish for a college education to be granted as a right for all and not just an option for some. You all will soon be or are now of voting age, and your views can be put into law to bring about a better future for your generation and generations to come. I do hope you will get involved in bringing about this change. Bless you all. Thanks again to all participants.