Pennsylvania Women's Press Association

Pennsylvania Women's Press Association is offering a $1,500 scholarship to a print journalism student.

To apply, a student must be a Pennsylvania resident, a print journalism major in a four-year or graduate level program in a Pennsylvania college or university, and be classified as a junior, senior or graduate level student in the fall of 2010. Both men and women students may apply..

The winner will be selected on the basis of proven journalistic ability, dedication to a newspaper career, and general merit.

The 2009 scholarship winner is Lauren Boyer of Hummelstown, Pa., a senior at Penn State for the 2009-10 school year.

Lauren Boyer grew up reading the Patriot-News.

So when she was presented with the opportunity to intern for the newspaper she first read as a youngster there was no doubt in her mind about what her answer would be.

“I said yes, right away,” she says. “My parents always encouraged me to read the newspaper. They taught me the importance of journalism, and I became obsessed with journalism. It is a very necessary part of our democracy. Having the chance to intern at the Patriot News was special because that is the paper I grew up on. I learned a lot working there.”

That was last summer.

This summer, Boyer, 21, is interning in Harrisburg covering state news. Her plan is to be able to write about a broad range of topics which will make her a more versatile job candidate once she graduates. She has one more semester at Penn State.

To help her pay for that final semester, Boyer will receive a $1,500 check for her award-winning essay, in addition to other criteria, in the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association annual scholarship contest. She says winning the award means a lot.

To apply for this scholarship, a student must be a Pennsylvania resident, a print journalism major in a four-year or graduate level program in a Pennsylvania college or university, and be classified as a junior, senior or graduate-level student in the fall of 2008. Both men and women are eligible. The winner was chosen on the basis of proven journalistic ability, dedication to a newspaper career, and general merit. Entrants included a 500-word essay summarizing his or her interest in journalism, career plans, and other information on why they should receive the award as well as clippings from any of their published work.

Boyer, who is from Hummelstown, was honored at the PWPA annual luncheon on May 30 at the Wyndham Gettysburg hotel in Gettysburg. Her parents, Stanley and Ann, accompanied their daughter, which is fitting since they placed the first newsprint in her hands.

“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to receive this scholarship from the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association,” she says. “Paying for college is not easy, and this will definitely help. I am well aware of the PWPA and the PNA (Pennsylvania Newspaper Association) and what these organizations do for journalists. I am looking forward to attending the luncheon.”

Despite the current turmoil in the newspaper industry, Boyer is confident in the future. She says young people will help “usher in a new era of journalism” with more multi-media such as blogging and videos.

“Young people are learning so much about multimedia,” she says. “I don’t think that journalism will ever disappear. The way it is delivered may change, but it won’t ever go away. If it does, then we have a problem.”

2010 Applications should be accompanied by:

A 500-word essay summarizing your interest in journalism, your career plans, and any other information on why you should receive this scholarship award. You may include a statement of financial need.A copy of your current college transcript.Clippings of any of your published work from school newspapers and other publications. Photocopies are acceptable. Please indicate the name of the publication in which the clip appeared.
A list of your brothers and sisters, their ages and educational status.

Applications lacking any of the above information will be considered incomplete, and will be rejected. Please print out the form below, fill it out completely and return the application, with the necessary materials, to:

PWPA Scholarship Committee
c/o Teresa Spatara
P.O. Box 152
Sharpsville, PA 16150

This year's scholarship will be presented at the PWPA luncheon of the Keystone Press Conference at noon May 15, 2010, at the Hilton, Harrisburg.
The deadline for returning applications is April 15, 2010.

Name:______________________________________

Home Address:______________________________

School Address:____________________________

Home Phone:________________________________

School Phone:______________________________

Date of birth:_____________________________

College or university in which you are enrolled:__________________________________

What will you be in September 2010?
Junior:___ Senior:___ Graduate Student:__

Major subject:_____________________________

Current Grade Point Average:_______________

List you college activities, organizations and honors.
Please be sure to include any work you have done on
school publications and indicate what staff positions
you have held for these publications._______________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

List any high school activities, organizations or honors.
Please be sure to include any work you have done on
school publications and indicate what staff positions
you held on these publications. ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

List any civic, athletic or other groups of which you are
or have been an active member. ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Hobbies:___________________________________ ___________________________________________

Name and address of high school from which
you graduated, and the date on which you graduated._________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

List jobs you have held, starting with the
most recent one. For each, indicate the
approximate date on which you started and
quit. Please include internships. ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

List the names, titles and addresses of
three references. Please be sure to include
at least one person who is a faculty member
in the department of your major or an
adviser to a publication on which you have
worked. Do not include any relatives.
NAME TITLE ADDRESS
___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Parents' names and addresses:______________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Parents' occupations:______________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

Are you available to attend the awards luncheon?
Yes_____ No______

All information provided above is true to
the best of my knowledge.

___________________________________________
Date Signature