Imagine suffering a serious traumatic brain injury just before your high school graduation, leading to months of physical recovery, multiple surgeries, and the withdrawal of your college acceptance. For Lauren Koops, this was a reality in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thankfully, Koops continues to charge forward through her recovery and has won Bader Scott’s Survivor of a Car Accident Scholarship. In her winning essay, she wrote that the experience was highly traumatic.
“I’ll never again be the International Scholastic Silver Medalist that I continue to mourn, or the artist I cry over as I reminisce on who I was before my auto-pedestrian accident,” wrote Koops.
However, several surgeries later, and with her University of Texas at Austin acceptance reinstated, she is ready to embrace her new life.
“I have photos all over my room of the girl I was preceding my accident, but I don’t look at them in longing or in pain,” she wrote. “I now see them through a lens of surreal wonder toward my growth. It feels as though I’m looking at baby pictures.
With the $2,500 award from Bader Scott, we believe that Koops will continue on her trajectory toward greatness and achieve her dreams.
What Comes Next for Lauren Koops
Now that Lauren Koops is once again headed to UT Austin, her goal is to become a journalist. In an interview with Bader Scott representatives, she revealed that she has always wanted to write in some capacity. This experience, traumatic though it is, has given her a new perspective about the importance of journalism.
“I believe that God writes better stories than I could ever dream of,” she said. As such, it is her wish to find those true-to-life stories and bring them to the page.
The best way to sum up Koops’ drive and ambition is to use her own words from her winning essay. “This new woman in the mirror has conquered her recovery,” Koops wrote. “She faces her world bravely with new disabilities.”
As personal injury attorneys, Bader Scott Injury Lawyers have worked with clients like Koops, who suffered severe traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). We have worked with those injured in slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and much more.
We’re proud to award this scholarship to a woman like Lauren Koops, who epitomizes bravery and perseverance in the face of intense adversity.
You can read Lauren’s winning essay by clicking this link.
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