Aidan Campbell, a public administration student with a minor in journalism, is one of the 65 recipients of the fall 2024 Media Fellows Scholarship, courtesy of the Washington Media Scholars Foundation.
The Washington Media Scholars Foundation is an organization that aims to support undergraduate media students by providing hands-on experiences, mentorships and financial assistance. They also partner with leading industry professionals to help further their skills and bring about more networking opportunities. On their website, the Foundation encouraged students whose career aspirations are at the intersection of advertising and public policy to apply. This includes those studying advertising, marketing, communications, political science, and more.
The scholarship originally piqued Campbell’s interest over the summer when he was looking for scholarships for the upcoming school year.
“The program is definitely something that caught my interest immediately,” said Campbell. “Thankfully I was able to get my hands on that one. Quite a bit of a process to earn it, but it was well worth it."
To apply, Campbell had to write a personal essay detailing his college aspirations and why the scholarship would contribute to those goals. Then, along with a resume, he needed a letter of recommendation. This came from You Li, an associate professor of journalism at Eastern Michigan University.
“I needed a letter of recommendation, which Professor You Li wrote for me, and I believe that was why I got the scholarship,” said Campbell. “I took one of her classes my first semester and it really paid off… I feel like taking her course helped refine the knack for writing I already had.”
A few months later, Campbell’s knack for writing paid off in the form of scholarship acceptance.
“I was thrilled! Just because with how many people applied for the scholarship. I guess I might just be a pessimistic person, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” said Campbell. “The scholarship helped take off a lot of the burden of paying for school off of my shoulders.”
Receiving this scholarship will empower Campbell to continue his degree, while also pursuing a career that combines both public administration and journalism. Having prior experience at his high school’s newspaper, he recognizes the importance of providing powerful information to the public.
“I’ve always taken journalism to be something that is very important because as I said in my essay, I believe that knowledge is power and the journalists are the people who help distribute that power,” said Campbell.
While Campbell does not know exactly where his career path will go, he is interested in bringing it to the local government sphere. By combining his writing abilities with administrative duties, he hopes to educate and empower his future community.
“There's a lot of situations where being an administrator would require having good writing skills, even if it's for local government, being an interpreter, or a communications representative. Someone who helps to give that information to people,” said Campbell.
The Washington Media Scholars Foundation is currently accepting applications for their spring 2025 Media Fellows. For more information, visit mediascholars.org.
