College of Southern Nevada Student Adrian Edward Bell earned the Regents’ Scholar award today from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents.
Bell has a tremendous work ethic and strong desire to one day create a successful Fortune 500 company. Bell explored his entrepreneurial instincts early by selling Little Debbie Honey Buns before ever leaving elementary school. Bell attended Advanced Technologies
Academy for high school. At the time he enrolled the school was not known for a particularly remarkable business program. But that began to change when, with the help of others, Bell created the school’s first student store which provided the school with income to help students directly.
Bell spent the summer before he started high school in Utah learning how to operate a successful small business in a town with less than a thousand people. Facing the challenges of weather, location and fluctuations in tourism, Bell learned to adapt a small business to overcome adversity and explored career path options for the future. “This helped me discover my passion for business,” he said. “I knew my first step was to declare a major in Finance to build a solid foundation for my future endeavors.”
The CSN sophomore is a first-generation, full-time college student on track to graduate with an Associate of Business degree in 2021. He plans to continue his education at a four-year institution after graduation while he continues to hone his business skills. Bell credits his success thus far to a strong support system led by his parents, mentors and teachers.
“My parents are my biggest inspiration,” he said. “I am proud of what I have accomplished. But, making my parents proud is an incredible feeling.” Bell says his work ethic was largely modeled from the example his parents set. “My parents have made so many sacrifices for our family,” he began. “They taught me to work hard and my father in particular instilled a sort of ‘don’t stop, don’t quit’ mentality in me that has figured prominently in my pursuit of academic success.”
That frame of mind paid off. Bell maintained a 4.0 GPA at CSN while working two jobs and balancing family and multiple extracurricular projects. He is currently serving as a facilitator for the Nevada Promise Scholarship program at CSN helping increase the number of Nevada residents who pursue a college education.
He is a scholarship recipient himself and praises the program for pairing recipients with mentors to help them find success in higher education. “My mentor Hillary Butrico provided guidance and support when I needed it the most,” said Bell. “She has my respect and gratitude; I really cannot thank her enough.”
Bell also looks to mentor Greg Bailey as a role model for overcoming adversity to reach his full potential. “Mr. Bailey helped me see and believe in my own potential,” he said. “Representation of successful black men in business still lags behind reality. Mr. Bailey provided me with a living, breathing example of success.” Bell continued, “he showed me that my goals and dreams are attainable through education. He encouraged me to believe in myself.”
Bell uses his experience as a first-generation college student to help students like him accomplish their dreams and aspirations through education. He looks forward to making an impact on his peers and his community and is excited about what the future holds. “It is truly an honor to be selected as a Regents’ Scholar,” he said. “I have received texts, emails and phone calls wishing me well and it feels really good to work hard and enjoy success.”
