Emily Belloma, senior in marketing and advertising, was awarded a prestigious scholarship through the Washington Media Scholars Foundation’s Media Fellows program in December 2016 for the 2016–17 academic year. The foundation awards scholarships to undergraduates who are interested in pursuing careers in strategic public policy advertising research, management, planning and buying.
“Emily was introduced to political advertising in this year’s media planning (ADVRT 335) course, where we took advantage of the vast amount of political ad spending in Iowa as a way of learning about the larger advertising/media ecosystem,” said associate professor Jay Newell. “Emily is capable of outstanding work—the mid-semester media plan that she wrote was evaluated by a media professional as the sort of product that would be expected from a second or third-year ad agency professional.”
Emily shares her advice for making the most of her experience as a Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication student.
Congrats on landing one of the 2016 Media Fellows scholarships from the Washington Media Scholars Foundation! How did you find out about the Media Fellows program?
Associate Professor Jay Newell told our media planning class (ADVRT 335) about the program. He sent an email to our entire class about a fall scholarship opportunity.
This scholarship supports “the academic development of undergraduates dedicated to a career related to the public policy advertising industry.” What are your career aspirations?
I plan to pursue a career in media planning after graduation.
What classes, extracurricular activities and internships are helping you prepare?
The most helpful course I have taken so far is ADVRT 335 Advertising Media Planning. I enjoyed learning the different industry terms related to media planning and creating media plans. Another course that has been exceedingly helpful in preparing for my future was Jl MC 316 Introduction to Digital Publishing. This class helped me understand the basics of InDesign so now my work is more visually pleasing. The [ISU Advertising Club](/about/experience/clubs/ad-club/) helped me tremendously by helping me decide which area to focus on with their various networking opportunities. I completed an internship this summer at Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. I was the media relations intern. This role helped me refine my writing skills.
As part of the scholarship requirements, you had to submit a 500-word proposal/essay. What are your tips for writing scholarship essays?
I hadn’t written many scholarship essays before I wrote this one. My biggest piece of advice would be to Google examples. I read a few blog posts about what you should and shouldn’t do before I began writing. I made sure I hit every point the program asked the applicants to hit. It would be a shame to not move forward with the application process because you forgot a simple detail they had listed. Finally, be sure to thoroughly proofread your document. Ask a friend to proofread if you are iffy about your writing.
You also had to complete a phone interview. Do you have advice for other students who may be facing a phone interview for a scholarship, internship or job?
Phone interviews are great because you can have so much information in front of you and the interviewer doesn’t know. Do research before you have an interview. Look up the interviewer as well as the company. I compile a list of questions to ask and have them in front of me. I also usually pull up the company’s website and have it in front of me just in case. Also, be sure to inform your roommates that you will be having a phone interview at that time so they don’t disturb you.
Editor’s note: The Washington Media Scholars Foundation is supported by a network of media companies in television, digital, and radio.