As a student finishing up studies, you will soon begin to interact with the government and the law in myriad ways. From voting to applying for a license to engage in your career or complying with other regulatory entities, the government is an ever-present part of our lives as citizens.
We want students to explore how the society-impacting changes in the law, and in the way people interact with the law, can help and hinder them in the future. That’s why Bertolino LLP initiated our Bertolino Impact In Government Scholarship.
One winner will be awarded $2,500 toward their ongoing education. Students have until June 1st, 2025, at 11:00 PM CT to submit their applications.
Who Is Eligible?
The Bertolino Impact In Government Scholarship is open to any undergraduate or graduate student who can meet the following criteria.
- GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Enrolled in or accepted at an accredited college, university, or graduate school in the United States
- Agree to the scholarship terms and conditions
- Submit the necessary application materials
How to Apply?
Please review the eligibility requirements carefully and then craft a video between 1 and 2 minutes on the scholarship topic provided below.
Once your video is complete, make sure to go through this checklist:
- Fill out the application form on this page.
- Upload a copy of your unofficial transcript.
- Add a URL link to your video touching on all of the scholarship topic’s essential elements.
- Submit proof of enrollment/acceptance to an accredited college/ university/ graduate school (Student ID; Letter of Acceptance; etc.).
Video Topic
Change is constant and always shaping our future. With this in mind, Bertolino LLP invites students to complete videos between 1 and 2 minutes discussing a matter impacting American society that they believe will have a significant impact in the next 50 years.
The firm encourages students to discuss the following points:
- Assume we are now 50 years into the future and describe how American society has changed because of this development, particularly regarding changes in the law and how people interact with the law.
- Explain how and why the law has evolved to meet this society-impacting change.
- How do Americans (including the legal profession itself) interact differently with the law and people who need legal services because of this societal change?
- Has this change been an overall positive or negative for Americans and their interaction with the law?
Video-Making Instructions
Upon scripting, shooting, and editing their videos, students should post them as unlisted videos on YouTube. Students can then submit a link to their video through the form available on this page.
For the videos to be considered eligible students are required to:
- Record their videos in well-lit areas while holding their recording device of choice as still as possible.
- Mention their full name and the name of the scholarship they are applying for either at the beginning or at the end of their video and give credits as necessary.
- Specify any sources of information and the media editing tools used in crafting and creating their videos in the description of the video.
- Use only copyright-free content, and come up with a creative, catchy title that reflects their ideas.
Students are free to use media editing tools, like Adobe Creative Cloud, to include images, stock shots, effects, or clean cuts in their content, but they are not compulsory. Bertolino LLP intends to award this scholarship based on the quality of a video’s script and not a student’s demonstrable video editing skills. Therefore, students should take time and care crafting the speech for their video before sitting down to create it.
While students can use AI to generate B-roll footage for their videos, the text/story that they share should be read in their own voices/produced by themselves. Any usage of AI platforms or tools to help them automatically generate videos, and the usage of fake actors is strictly prohibited and will lead to automatic disqualification.
Scholarship Deadline
We will begin accepting applications on November 1st, 2024 at 9:00 AM CT.
The deadline to apply is June 1st, 2025, at 11:00 PM CT.
This is a hard deadline. Applications received after the deadline will not be taken into consideration.
After the deadline, all submissions will be reviewed by our Scholarship Selection Committee. Depending on the number of applications we receive, the decision process can take up to three months or more.
For legal reasons, we are unable to accept calls regarding the scholarship. All the necessary details about this scholarship can be found above. Please provide your contact information in the application form so that we can get in touch with you if we require additional information or verification.
Media Inquiries
Please email [email protected] for additional information about the scholarship.
Previous Winners
Future winners of our scholarship will be interviewed for a blog post and press release following their win. You may read these posts and watch the videos of previous winners below.
- 2023 Winner: Grace McAloon
- 2024 Winner: Stacy Bediako