Bertolino LLP, an Austin-based law firm specializing in professional license defense, has awarded its 2026 Impact in Government Scholarship to Ajok "Jolie" Bul, a student at Southern Methodist University. The $2,500 scholarship recognizes Bul's forward-thinking analysis of a regulatory inconsistency in how sunscreen is classified across jurisdictions.
Applicants for the scholarship responded to one of two prompts. Bul chose to answer: "What do you see in the law today that will be obsolete in 2075 and why?" Her video, "When Beauty Becomes Medicine," examines the divergent regulatory treatment of sunscreen: South Korea regulates it as a functional cosmetic, while the United States classifies it as an over-the-counter drug. Bul argues that as biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and personalized skincare advance, the legal distinction between cosmetics and drugs may not survive the next 50 years.
"When I encountered the prompt asking what law today might be obsolete by 2075, I immediately thought of the inconsistency in how a product as simple as sunscreen is regulated," Bul said. "That contradiction became the foundation for my video."
Bul brought firsthand industry experience to the topic. She founded Nile Glow, a social-impact skincare initiative that supports fair-wage employment for young women in South Sudan, giving her a practical understanding of the beauty industry's regulatory and economic dynamics.
The selection committee also cited Bul's breadth of achievements outside the classroom. She is one of 11 students selected for the NexPoint John G. Tower Scholars Program, a competitive four-year interdisciplinary cohort focused on global economic systems and policy analysis. She was the only Tower Scholar to conduct original research on U.S.-Japan trade relations, which she presented at the Sun & Star Business and Geopolitics Symposium co-hosted with Kwansei Gakuin University. Bul is also a Gerald & Gail Turner Scholar and serves as Director of Programming for the Association of Black Students, where she increased freshman meeting attendance by more than 60 percent.
Her professional and service record includes work as a Brand & Marketing Outreach Intern for HANDS International in partnership with UNICEF, helping generate more than $150,000 in international funding to support more than 20 girls displaced by conflicts in the Middle East. She volunteers with Hope Farm in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and is a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity and the SMU African Student Association.
The scholarship will support Bul's continued studies in Economics with Financial Applications, with minors in Public Policy & International Affairs and Business Administration. She plans to pursue a career at the intersection of business, government, and international development.
The award highlights the growing scrutiny of regulatory frameworks that struggle to keep pace with technological innovation. As products increasingly blur the lines between cosmetics, drugs, and medical devices, legal distinctions that once seemed clear may require reevaluation. For students interested in the intersection of law and policy, the scholarship offers an opportunity to engage with such questions. Bertolino LLP, which has defended thousands of Texas licensed professionals since 2003, continues to support emerging voices in government regulation through this initiative. More information about the firm is available at Bertolino LLP.
