The Overseas Press Club Foundation
The Overseas Press Club Foundation has a broad mandate to improve the media's understanding of international issues and to raise the quality of news-gathering efforts in covering the world. The most tangible expression of this charter is a scholarship/internship program for undergraduate and graduate students in American colleges and universities, who aspire to become foreign correspondents.
Graduate and undergraduate students, studying at American colleges and universities are invited to apply for one of twelve $2,000 scholarships to be awarded by the Overseas Press Club Foundation.
Winning an OPC Foundation scholarship is more than a cash award. Winners are invited to join the Overseas Press Club family. They are encouraged to network and keep the organization informed of their career moves. From among the scholarship winners, the Foundation also selects up to six scholars and pays travel and living expenses for them to intern at foreign bureaus at such leading news organization as the Associated Press and Reuters and foreign English-language media like Cambodia Daily and the South China Morning Post. In many cases, winning a prestigious OPC Foundation award has helped launch careers.
The judges require that applicants submit a Cover Letter, Resume and Essay. The applicant's name and school should appear at the top of each page. The Essay of approximately 500 words should concentrate on an area of the world or an international issue that is in keeping with the applicant's interest. It can be in the form of a story, news analysis or essay. Recent winners have written on such diverse topics as playing black jack on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, political activism in Morocco, and social upheaval in China. Applicants are also encouraged to submit essays showing a strong understanding of, or interest in, global economic issues such as trade, finance, emerging markets, immigration or environmental impacts.
The Cover Letter should be autobiographical in nature addressing such questions as how the applicant developed an interest in this particular part of the world, or how he or she would use the scholarship to further journalistic ambitions. The judges respond well to applications showing strong reporting skills, color, and understanding or passion.
Winners will be contacted in December so that arrangements can be made for them to attend the Foundation Scholarship Luncheon in February 2010 in New York City at the Foundation's expense. Recipients are expected to attend. Applicants do not have to be US citizens.
Congratulations to the 2011 winners of the OPC Foundation Scholarships. Congratulations to the 2011 winners of the OPC
Foundation Scholarships. About 165 applications from more than 55
different colleges were received in a very competitive year. The
awards will be presented at the annual Scholarship Luncheon on Friday, February 18, 2011.
Charles M. Sennott of GlobalPost will give the keynote address.
Natalie Bailey, Northwestern Graduate School of Journalism
Alexander Besant, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Megan Camm, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Kim Chakanetsa, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Jialu Chen, Yale University
Carol Kuruvilla, New York University
Diksha Madhok, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Ajay Makan, University of Chicago Graduate School
Laura Murray, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Mark Oltmanns, University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism
Alex Pena, Florida Gulf Coast University
Hannah Rappleye, City of New York Graduate School of Journalism
Colleen Stewart, Western Kentucky University
Sisi Tang, Northwestern University
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