In a few days, the Tiger Woods Foundation will host Tiger Jam, an exclusive two-day charity event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. While attendees will enjoy golfing, gambling and all the glitter the city has to offer, the core of the event is and always has been the students and scholars who are the heartbeat of the foundation. On Saturday, May 20, guests will have the pleasure of meeting one such person, the Earl Woods Scholar Program’s first lawyer, Adrian Arias.
Part of our fourth cohort of scholars and hailing from Washington D.C., Adrian’s story is one of razor-sharp focus and unwavering determination. For Adrian, the seeds of community service and civil justice were planted in him early by his mother, who received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in Washington D.C., soon after emigrating from her home country of the Dominican Republic. However, while his love for law was inherited from his mother, it was his childhood experiences that gave his calling a larger purpose.
Growing up with little money, in a single-parent household and in an especially rough area of D.C., Adrian witnessed firsthand the senseless violence that plagued his peers and his community. The struggles his community faced only cemented his decision to pursue law. From as early as high school, Adrian knew he had to rise in the face of adversity, pursue his education and one day, return to his city and implement change.
“I never thought of mastering law for myself but for others. I want to give back to my community for supporting me. I want to make the world a better place not for myself, but for others,” he explained.
And Adrian is doing just that.
Hours after he speaks at Tiger Jam, Adrian will board a flight back to Ohio Northern University and don his cap and gown to receive his law degree. As associate editor of the Ohio Northern University Law Review Volume XLII, region president of the Hispanic National Bar Association LSD, president of the Federalist Society, student representative of the Barbri Bar Review and Sergeant – at – Arms of the Student Bar Association, Adrian has not only completed law school, he has conquered it.
While Ohio has been his home for the last six years, Adrian has plans to return to D.C. and take the Maryland bar exam, with hopes of practicing law in the very community that raised him—the community that is still overcome with so much poverty, violence and injustice.
With the support of the Earl Woods Scholar Program, coupled with his unyielding drive, Adrian never let his circumstances define him. In an interview with USA Today, Adrian attributed much of us his success to the foundation.
“The Tiger Woods Foundation has been more so like a family to me,” he said. “They’ve been my No. 1 supporters since I went to college. I had kind of a group of individuals who were more like a backbone, who could pick me up and take me further into the future.”
Weeks away from fulfilling his life-long goal of becoming a lawyer, all of us at the Tiger Woods Foundation are immensely proud and honored to have Adrian speak at this year’s Tiger Jam. Adrian’s grit, pursuit of excellence and deep-rooted commitment to bettering the lives of others humbles us all.
Pledge your support for scholars like Adrian on their journey through college and beyond.
Redefining what it means to be a champion.
