Rien Perez, a first-generation college student in Ogeechee Technical College’s (OTC) Fish & Wildlife Management program, was named the 2025 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL) winner. He and three other finalists were celebrated during a reception held this afternoon in the Jack Hill Building at OTC.

Perez grew up in Texas in a family of plumbers and learned hard work from an early age. His aspirations to play college football and pursue a degree in Criminal Justice were cut short when he injured his spine playing football for the University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“My first semester there I fractured my spine and found out I was going to be a father. A weaker man would have run away and would have abandoned his child,” said Perez. “At 19 years old I never wavered, with no money, no job, no idea what was coming next, I packed my bags and moved our family to Georgia.”

Perez’s desire to be a game warden was sparked at the age of twelve when he made a special connection with the TV show “Lonestar Law.” He knew that someday he may have a future protecting wild animals in wild places. After another stint in Texas, Perez and his young family moved back to Georgia and his wife pushed him to enroll in the Fish & Wildlife Management program at OTC.

“When I first got back, it took about every cent we had to get back over here, and I didn’t know where I was going to go, and I started researching schools and I came across OTC and Miss Casey’s wildlife program and saw that she was the teacher of the year. I saw that it was something that I could afford and that was the big thing for me,” added Perez.

Perez admits to never being the best student, but attributes his success to the support he gets from his family, the community at OTC, and the affordability of the program he is enrolled in.

Casey Corbett, OTC’s Fish & Wildlife Management instructor, had the pleasure of nominating both Perez, the contest’s winner, and Arianna Crumpacker, the contest’s runner-up, and had a few words for them from the podium.

“To see that I have both first and second place winners is amazing. I want to step aside and say it’s not me; it’s those two students over there, I can’t begin to explain how amazing they are. They come to class every day and strive to do their best. They are the reason why I am here,” said Corbett. 

Also awarded at the reception was GOAL runner-up Arianna Crumpacker (Fish & Wildlife Management), and finalists Calli Price (Paramedicine Technology/Associate of Science in Nursing), and Faith Drew (Construction Management Technology). Following OTC’s nomination, Perez will interview in the regional competition in Tifton on February 25. If selected as one of three finalists from the region he will move on to compete for the state title the week of April 28 – May 1 in Atlanta.

Ogeechee Technical College (OTC) is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia. OTC provides student‐centered academic and occupational programs and support services at the associate degree, diploma, and certificate levels. OTC utilizes traditional and distance education methodologies in state-of-the-art facilities while supporting adult education, continuing education, and customized business and industry workforce training.