By Alicia Couch Payne
Amber Aiken Pelot is a 2002 graduate of Buford High School. She is the youngest daughter of Bennet and Gail Aiken. Amber and her older sister, April attended Buford City Schools their entire K-12 career since their mother, Gail was a teacher at Buford High School for 30 years. Amber recalls looking up to her big sis growing up. April, a 1999 BHS grad, played sports in high school including basketball which she later went on to play in college at Valdosta State.
To say that Amber was extremely active at BHS is an understatement. She lettered 12 times in four different sports. Amber played recreational league basketball starting at age five and played all four years at BHS. She was on the tennis and softball teams from the 9th grade up until the 11th grade. Amber was a trainer for the football team during her 10th through 12th-grade years as well as a statistician for the baseball team.
All four years at BHS Amber was involved with the Bel Canto Chorus, Variety Shows, Class Council, National Beta Club, National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Amber and her fellow classmate George Tucker had the distinction of representing Buford High School on the Gwinnett Student Leadership Team during her final three years at BHS. She graduated with a 4.2 GPA and was the Class of 2002 Valedictorian.
Amber went on to the University of West Georgia where she graduated summa cum laude in 2006 with a double major in Economics and Finance. In 2006, she went on to enroll in a joint J.D./M.B.A. program between Mercer University (M.B.A.) and Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law (J.D.). She graduated in 2009 magna cum laude from the law school earning her J.D. and at the same time graduated with a 4.0 GPA from the business school earning her M.B.A. During her time at Mercer, Amber was involved in the Association of Women Law Students and served as their Co-President. She was on the Mercer Law Review where she was the Student Writing Editor. While at Mercer, Amber received several CALI awards which are given to the highest scoring student in law school classes. She also received the “Most Outstanding M.B.A. Student” award.
Since graduating from Mercer, Amber has become a successful real estate lawyer who is a Senior Associate at Alston and Bird’s Real Estate Finance and Investment Group in Atlanta. “I represent clients ranging from real estate developers to institutional investors in commercial real estate projects across most asset classes, especially mixed-use, multifamily, and industrial projects,” explains Amber.
Amber said that she chose her profession because she has always been interested in law and really loves it. Ever since she was a little kid, she would watch every legal show she could find. She further developed that love working for a Buford attorney, Debra K. Greeson in high school and later in college in Carrollton working for Tisinger, Tisinger, Vance & Greer.
In her personal life, Amber married her high school sweetheart, Matt Pelot who works at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta as a Health and P.E. teacher and as the Offensive Coordinator of the varsity football team. Matt and Amber have two “high energy little boys.” Everett “Rhett” just turned five years old and Reid who will be three this month.
True to being a Wolf, Amber continues to be actively involved in the community, as well as, her professional associations. Being the best mother and wife that she can be is her number one priority. Even though she no longer lives in Buford, many of her friends are still in Buford and the city remains near and dear to her heart. Once a Wolf, Always a Wolf!
