American Horse Publications is pleased to announce the three Student Travel Award winners for 2014. The qualities that set three talented college students apart from a field of 22 applicants were passion, drive and involvement. Their names are added to a long list of students who applied for the AHP Student Award and earned an opportunity to meet leading equine publishing professionals and discuss career possibilities during the AHP annual seminar.
Bringing writing and photography talent to the world of horses
The three AHP Travel Award Winners will each receive $750 travel awards to attend the 2014 AHP Gallop n’ Grits Seminar in Charleston, South Carolina on June 19-21, 2014.
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The three AHP Travel Award Winners will each receive $750 travel awards to attend the 2014 AHP Gallop n’ Grits Seminar in Charleston, South Carolina on June 19-21, 2014 for three days of educational sessions and related activities.
Lindsay Paulsen is a senior at Otterbein University, where she majors in Journalism and Equine Business and Facility Management. Lindsay has spent a major part of her college career with a Nikon in one hand, a lead rope in the other, and a pencil behind her ear.
“During the school year,” says Lindsay, “I am either at the barn with my Thoroughbred mare preparing for our next event or in our school magazine office working as Editor-in-Chief to produce our next issue.”
As a nine-year-old girl who loved to tromp around in paddock boots and jodhpurs, she couldn’t wait to crack open the latest issue of Young Rider, Practical Horseman, or Horse Illustrated. By the time she entered college, she had a very specific career goal: to ultimately land an editorial position with an English equestrian publication.
For the past two summers, Lindsay has interned with Dressage Today and Practical Horseman. These experiences confirmed her intuitions. She discovered that writing, editing and exchanging stories about equestrian sports are the embodiment of her two greatest passions. Lindsay is the daughter of Bill and Margaret Paulsen of Killingworth, CT.
Rebekah Savage is a senior at William Woods University, where she majors in Communications (Journalism and PR) and Equine General Studies (Art and Media).
Throughout the years of Rebekah’s ever-changing life, there has been one consistency: horses. “From my earliest memories,” she says, “I was obsessed with anything and everything equine.” She started taking saddle seat lessons at age five and as the years progressed, jumping, dressage, western, and hundreds of miles of trail riding followed.
Her love of writing came naturally. With her nose constantly buried in a book, Rebekah was always good with words. “Choosing a college with an equine degree was a no-brainer,” she says. “However, discovering what I wanted to do with my equine degree was a more difficult choice.” Her involvement with two campus publications provided her “AHA moment” when she discovered her calling was equine journalism and photography.
After college, Rebekah will seek a job with an equestrian magazine where she plans to continue her passion for writing about and photographing the consistency that makes her tick—the partnership between horse and rider. Rebekah is the daughter of Jim Savage and Jeanne Windham of South Berwick, ME.
Catie Staszak is a senior at the University of Miami, majoring in Broadcast Journalism.
“It would take a novel to express what riding and horses mean to me,” says Catie, who has had horses in her life since she was four years old. She has been fortunate to have competed at several prestigious horse shows including the Winter Equestrian Festival, the Pennsylvania National, and the Alltech National Horse Show.
She also has a deep passion for writing, photography, and broadcast news. It’s been her goal to pursue a career in equine reporting since she completed her first internship with Sidelines in high school as a junior columnist. This experience inspired her to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Communication from the University of Miami.
During her college years, Catie has had an opportunity to work with ProEquest, HRTV, Coglianese Photos, ESPN West Palm, and most recently, Gulfstream Park. “These amazing internships/jobs allowed me to have my own work published by reputable organizations,” says Catie.
Catie plans to use her accumulated knowledge and experience to climb the ladder in the broadcast and print industries. Building on her equine journalism experiences, she looks forward to a fulfilling career. Catie is the daughter of Catherine and Raymond Staszak of Boynton Beach, FL.
The three travel award winners were selected by Student Award Chairman, Stephanie Church, who has firsthand knowledge of what each of the student applicants were going through at this stage in their lives. Currently, the Editor-in-Chief of The Horse, Stephanie applied and won the AHP Student Award in 1998.
The three finalists will be interviewed by the Student Award Committee at the AHP seminar in Charleston where one student will be announced as the 2014 AHP Student Award Winner at the Student Party on Friday, June 20, 2014.
The Student Award winner wins a cash award of $1,000 plus an all-expense paid trip hosted by Publishers Press to one of their Two-Day Customer Education Seminars in Louisville, Kentucky, to have a unique experience to learn the printing process. Additional cash awards will be awarded at the discretion of the judges. All cash awards are sponsored by AIM Equine Network.
The Student Award program, which began in 1993, was initiated to promote awareness to students of the career opportunities available in equine publishing. “This program has been a win-win for both the students and the association,” says AHP Executive Director Chris Brune. “Not only does it offer students a chance to learn about a career they may be passionate about, but it also has given equine publishing a long list of talented young people who are an asset to our industry and our association.”
American Horse Publications offers students interested in a career in equine publishing with several opportunities to participate in its association. To request information about any of AHP’s student programs, please contact: Judy Lincoln, American Horse Publications, 49 Spinnaker Circle, South Daytona, FL 32119; (386) 760-7743, e-mail: ahorsepubs2@aol.com. Information is also available online at the AHP web site under Students.
About American Horse Publications
American Horse Publications is a non-profit professional association dedicated to promoting excellence in equine media and better understanding and communication within the equine publishing industry. For more information, visit: www.americanhorsepubs.org