The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) awarded Ms. Jenee Taylor and Ms. Angela Rodela $10,000 each through the AAAA Foundation's Operation Jumpstart II. The scholarships are for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic years.
Jenee, one of this year's award recipients is originally from Cincinnati, OH. She received her B.S.J. from the Ohio University in Athens, OH with a major in Advertising and with specializations in French and Mathematics. She is pursuing the Texas Creative program and wants to study art direction.
Angela is originally from Phoenix. She completed her undergraduate degree at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Angela says she has loved art ever since she can remember. In high school she concentrated in drawing, painting, printmaking, and furniture design and then in college, although her degree was in Spanish, she double majored in Studio art with Photography and Digital art as concentrations.
Angela states, "I've always been interested in the creative side of advertising mostly because of my fascination with pop art and culture and how they so closely related to the field. This scholarship means a lot to me. Not only am I flattered by my being selected to join an elite group, but financially, it's a big help. I found out about being chosen on my parents' 23rd wedding anniversary, so that was one of the best presents I could have given them - as they are supporting my educational endeavors."
Last year's recipients were Adrian Castillo and Nick Munoz. Munoz plans to graduate in December 2003 from the Texas Creative program. A life-long lover of art, Munoz looks forward to getting a job as an art director. "I've loved art ever since I was a kid and I've been drawing since I was four", he said.
Castillo said he has enjoyed advertising since he was a child. He said he found commercials interesting and "wondered how they came up with ideas." He hopes to eventually become a creative director in a big agency or open up an agency of his own.
Castillo, who grew up in the Philadelphia area, said that although he enjoys Austin, he may move to New York to explore the "capital of advertising."
In 1997, the American Association of Advertising Agencies formed the AAAA Foundation, Inc. as a means for the AAAA to accept charitable contributions for a variety of advertising industry-related purposes and to establish scholarship funds. Since its inception, the AAAA Foundation created the programs Operation Jumpstart and Operation Jumpstart II as a means of "jumpstarting" the number of multicultural employees in advertising agency creative departments. For more information about AAAA's scholarships in the Department of Advertising contact Gary Wilcox, the graduate adviser.
11/12/2003