Congratulations to our Operation Jumpstart Fellowship Winners!

The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) awarded Amina Abdel-Halim and Alyssia Palacios $10,000 each through the AAAA Foundation's Operation Jumpstart III program. The scholarships are for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years. Both students are first year MA students pursuing the Texas Creative program.

Operation Jumpstart provides financial assistance to aspiring multicultural art directors and copywriters who have been accepted into AAAA participating portfolio graduate schools, such as UT Austin. Twenty $10,000 scholarships are awarded each year to students entering these portfolio schools.

Amina graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Mass Communications and a minor in Theatre and Performance Studies. She then spent some time working in Dubai as an Editor/Marketing Coordinator. Shortly thereafter she moved to Houston where she worked at the Council for Environmental Education. When she started searching for advertising programs she wanted to include UT Advertising in her application list primarily because of the Texas Creative program.

Alyssia Palacios grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, and graduated from St. Edward's University here in Austin with a B.A. in Graphic Design. "I am here because I love creating, I love the process of creating, and I love the feeling you get when you create something spectacular. UT is the perfect setting to learn more about creative strategies, marketing principles, and business practices while meeting new people who will push each other to reach their full creative potential," said Alyssia. Needless to say, both Alyssia and Amina have incredible potential, which they already started to realize.

"I was talking to someone on the phone when I read the email, about the fact that I got the fellowship," said Amina. "I quickly had to hang up the phone because I couldn't pay attention to them. After it had sunk in, I was (and continue to be) extremely grateful." Alyssia shares Amina's feelings of gratitude: "there are definitely many creatives who are deserving of this award, and I feel lucky to have been chosen among them."

"After graduation I'd like to work and continue building my career. Besides that, anything can happen really, I'll just have to see how it all unfolds," said Amina when asked about her post-graduation plans. For more information about AAAA's scholarships in the Department of Advertising contact Gary Wilcox, the graduate adviser.

9/27/2006