Rise Above Scholarship

It is a great feeling to be a part of a team working towards a common goal. Working for a good company instills essential values and develops people socially and professionally. At Silberman & Lam LLP, we advocate for the everyday employee. Our firm works on cases primarily regarding Workers’ Compensation law, and we are very familiar with seeing employees being taken advantage of by their employers. Often, people are uninformed of their rights as employees, allowing managers or executives to exploit their labor and time.

That is why we created the Rise Above Scholarship to hear from students across the nation about any similar experience that shaped them. As a workers’ compensation firm, we hope this scholarship will create helpful discussions between students to instill confidence as an employee. We ask people to share a time when they were being taken advantage of as employees, interns, or group members. How did this experience affect your professional relationships with those involved? Has your experience helped you look for future or current employment red flags? How did a negative, professional situation turn out to be a positive one in the long run, and how did you learn from it?

The deadline to apply for this scholarship is December 1, 2024. Once all submissions have been received, the entries will be reviewed, and five students will be selected to each receive a $1,000 award.

Eligibility

• The scholarship is open to any current high school senior, vocational student, college student, or graduate student who is a legal resident of the United States residing in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia and who is enrolled in a vocational program or two to four-year post-secondary institution for the Spring 2025.
• Employees of Silberman & Lam, their immediate families (parent, child, sibling, and spouse), and persons living in the same households of such individuals (whether related or not), are not eligible to participate in the competition.
• Candidates for this scholarship should have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher and be in good overall academic standing.

Application Requirements

• The candidate must fill out the form below with all necessary information
• The candidate must submit a 500-750 word essay response to the prompt: Share a time when you felt like you were being taken advantage of as an employee, intern, or group member. How did this experience affect your professional relationships with those involved? Has your experience helped you look for future or current employment red flags? How did a negative, professional situation turn out to be a positive one in the long run, and how did you learn from it?
• Please note that all essays will be checked for AI writing. If AI writing is deemed present in the essay, the application will be denied.
• The candidate must submit a professional resumé that lists their experience, both professional and academic.
• The candidate must submit a transcript from their current school. First-year college students, graduate students, or individuals who have recently transferred schools may submit an unofficial transcript from their current school, as well as the most recent official transcript from their prior school. High school students must also submit proof of acceptance to their college or university.
• Preference will be given to student’s either from or attending secondary school in the state.