For the past eleven years the Independent Insurance Agents of Queens and Kings Counties
has bestowed an annual scholarship on a graduating high School student who is a resident of Queens or Kings County
and who will be going directly to college from High School. This grant is to be used solely for college tuition.
Due to last year's overwhelming response from local area High School seniors, the committee has decided to once
again use the essay topic--- "You Drink, You Drive, Describe the Ramifications".
After reading over 60 essays, the committee members were touched by the thoughtfulness of many contestants. Choosing
one winner was entirely difficult.
Our original goal was to have our high school seniors really think of the consequences of Drinking and Driving.
We wanted others to never have to experience the sorrow and loss we have endured after losing our dear friend,
Joel, to a drunk driver.
We are hopeful that Joel's Scholarship will not only reward and assist a high school student to attend college,
but that the family and friends of each essay participant truly think about the ramifications of drinking and driving.
Maybe, just maybe, in Joel's sacrifice he saves another's life.
This year we are soliciting contributions from friends, family, insurance companies, etc. Any size donation will
help promote "Don't Drink and Drive" through our scholarship efforts.
Please consider contributing to a very worthy cause - educating our youth and saving lives. Joel would be proud
of us for this program. Checks should be made payable to the Joel S. Pollack
Scholarship Foundation and mailed to THE AMERISC CORP., P.O. BOX 3705,
LAKE SUCCESS, NY 11042.
For additional information contact Phil samuels at (516) 364-4500 x237 or via email to THEAMERSIC@AOL.COM.
To all those who knew Joel, DON'T LET HIS MEMORY FADE. To all those who didn't, check out his website - www.joelpollack.com - you're missing an amazing
experience.
The 2000 winner of the Joel S. Pollack Scholarship Award is Adanna Williams
of Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn. |
|
Scholarship Winning Essay 2000:
"The Night the Cherry Bomb Exploded"
by Adanna Williams
Four Years ago it all began on the night of February 16th at 2:00 am.
My boyfriend Keston, Troy, Ayana, and myself were returning from a party at Club Coconut. I was driving the car
after having a drink at the Club. The music was playing; we were laughing and talking, having fun. Keston and I
were in the front seat not wearing our seat belts; Troy and Ayana were in the back seat. While driving on Wilmour
Street to drop Troy and Ayana home. IT HAPPENED!! That was when the nightmare began. The horror, fear, guilt and
grief that followed were beyond the imagination of a human being but were the ramifications of driving after drinking.
At the corner of Rockaway Parkway and Wilmour Street, I was making a right turn onto Rockaway Parkway. I did not
see the car making a left turn onto Wilmour Street. But it was the glare from the other car's headlights that blinded
me for what seemed like 2 minutes. I was unable to recover fast enough to avoid the car. Before I knew what hit
me I had a head on collision with the car.
Then it all went blank; the radio stopped playing; the laughter dissolved into space and silence hovered in the
fog and filthy air. I awoke to find myself in the midst of confusion, lights and voices. My head was against the
dash board with blood streaming down my face. I looked across the passenger seat, but Keston was not there. Troy
and Ayana were all right in the back seat but Keston, my love, was missing. The sirens were blazing, there were
flashing blue and red lights all over the place and voices were engulfing me in its depth.
I lost consciousness again and awoke in a room probably in a hospital
somewhere surrounded by my family. My mother was in tears; my sisters were worried that I was not going to make
it and my brothers, silent out of grief and fear. My first words were to ask for keston, since Troy and Ayana were
standing over me. Before they told me I knew that from their expression that Keston was not all right. "Adanna,
Keston is dead. He died two hours ago while you were unconscious. Hew was thrown from the car by the impact. The
doctors tried to save him but he had too much internal bleeding." the words seemed to suffocate me and the
tears began to flow.
"I am a murderer!" I murdered my love, someone who I cared
so much for. These were my first thoughts. Then the question came: Why wasn't it me? Why did I drink that Cherry
Bomb with an extra shot of alcohol? What was I thinking about driving after drinking? Why didn't I tell him to
wear his seat belt? Why wasn't I wearing my seat belt? The guilt and grief that engulfed me made me feel lifeless,
drained of all my strength without hope for the future. For days all that I could think about is why Keston had
to leave me?
On February 24th, Keston was buried in Greenwood Cemetery. It was a rainy
day that rained as if Mother Nature herself was mourning the loss of a son who had his entire life to live. Do
you know what it is like to see your loved one buried because of the actions you made? I cried like a baby calling
for the loving arms of someone; just to be held and feel loved. It was the toughest day of my life. When I laid
a rose on his coffin at the burial site, the memories of Keston flooded my mind. The day we first met, the first
time we kissed and the first time we slept in each other's arms were fresh in my mind like if it were yesterday.
His parents were standing there mourning the loss of their only son. His sisters looked at me with pain and sorrow
in their eyes. I felt their pain, grief, and hatred burning through my skin touching my soul with its intensity.
The guilt that I felt made me feel lower than a dog. Yet I had to survive.
The sorrow that Keston's family felt and feels today I could never heal but our son Keston Jr., now four years
old, would know driving after drinking is wrong. It only carries a weight of guilt enough to suffocate your soul.
Sorry Mr. and Mrs James for I took your joy away.
The account above showed the ramifications of driving after drinking. so for drivers out there that drink and drive
remember that the death of someone would one day be your own. So take this advice from someone who knows.
DON'T DRINK AND DRIVER, FOR THE RAMIFICATIONS ENGULF
YOU WITH EMOTIONS THAT YOU NEVER KNEW EXISTED. |
