AAA South Jersey Scholarship Winner 2017

What do you get when you win a prestigious contest? If you’re Karly Rybacki, you get cake. Then you find out why.

Rybacki’s mother, Sophie, was notified that her daughter was selected as the winner of the 2017 AAA South Jersey Scholarship Essay contest. Instead of letting her daughter know that she won, she planned a bit of a surprise.

“My Mom did not tell me right away that I had won,” Karly said. “After dinner, she brought out a small cake that said ‘Congratulations – Karly’. I was a little confused at first but then she explained to me that I won the AAA essay contest. I was really thrilled and excited and so was my whole family. I could not believe it. I was really just so happy!”

Rybacki, a senior at Pope Paul VI High School, received a check for $2,500 – and the cake -- for a winning essay, which bested nearly 300 other submissions from students across South Jersey.

This year’s essay question was:

A study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety discovered that drivers needed up to 27 seconds to fully restore their mental focus on driving after ending a call or texting from voice-controlled systems in their cars. What do you think is the most distracting feature available in cars today, and how could that feature be less of a distraction?

“I was hoping to win but the essay question really allowed me to better understand that so many people really feel that they can text and drive and the sad reality is that texting and driving is a really a combination for disaster,” she said. “The essay question was familiar to me as Paul VI High School had speakers come in to discuss the concept of distracted driving. The issue is very real to all those that drive since we see distracted driving every day. The essay allowed me to further research and better understand some of the staggering statistics behind distracted driving. It also allowed me to see some great options to help prevent distracted driving like the (phone) apps that prevent texting and driving.”

She said it took her “3-4 days” to research and write her winning essay.

“I was really trying to better explain the idea of distracted driving not only to others but also to myself,” she said.

At Paul VI, Rybacki is involved in numerous clubs and activities including the National Honor Society, Peer Leadership, the Ambassador Club, PVI School Band, Educator's Rising Club, Electronic Competition Club, Pro-Life Club, and the Poetry Club. After graduation, Rybacki will be heading to Rutgers-Camden, where she’ll be attending this fall to study Computational Biology.

“I love science and math and this major allows me to combine and use both fields of study,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed my science and math classes so this has been a lifelong interest of mine...well, at least since grade school.”