Applicants for all ACES scholarships must be seeking degrees as enrolled college/university juniors, seniors, or graduate students during the fall term of 2022, and demonstrate an interest in editing as a career. Scholarships are awarded without regard to the student’s nationality, residence or field of academic concentration. Previous scholarship winners are not eligible. The last day on which to submit an application for 2022 scholarships is November 15, 2022. Applications are made by email. All entry materials must be in English.
The last day on which to submit an application for 2022 scholarships is November 15, 2022. Applications are made by email. All entry materials must be in English.
Provide your résumé, with evidence of academic achievement and exemplary work in editing. You may include information on other substantial achievements/activities/interests as well.
References: Provide the names and titles or job descriptions of a total of three instructors and/or work supervisors, and their contact information.
Consider the following situation and then, in no more than 250 words, write what you would do if you were the rookie copy editor:
The business editor at a medium-size news outlet (print and online) orders that a long profile of a small-business owner be posted as soon as possible, at length and prominently. (Her nephew owns the business.) Naturally the story is given to the rookie copy editor, who finds the writing grammatically correct but verbose and dull, and the content far too promotional for a news section.
By rewriting it, edit the following first paragraph of a news article to make it clearer, more engaging for readers, and no less informative or accurate.
Write headlines of no more than nine words for each of these three pieces of news:
A) The USS Wichita has been saved from retirement by a budget compromise. The 3-year-old ship had been slated to be decommissioned by the Navy, along with eight other similar ships, because of mechanical issues in some ships and what the Navy called a lack of fighting capability. The ships were slated to be scrapped in the 2023 budget cycle, because retiring them would be more cost-saving than repairing them, the Navy said. But the Senate Armed Services Committee now is expected to save five, including the USS Wichita.
B) New hires are facing the ultimate team icebreaker: Who pays your cellphone bill? Millions of workers have quit old jobs for new ones in the past year, and caller ID is outing young professionals—and some not-so-young professionals—for being on their parents’ family plans. When Nicole McCauley, 35 years old, started her new job, her managers didn’t recognize the name on caller ID. McCauley, who had changed her last name after she got married, showed up as Roger Batchelor, her father. The first time it happened, she made a joke. The second time felt worse. “This is getting slightly embarrassing,” she recalled thinking.
C) The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that law-abiding Americans generally have a right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense, striking down a New York law requiring a special need for such a permit. The court’s decision clears the way for legal challenges to similar restrictions in Maryland, California, New Jersey, Hawaii and Massachusetts. It followed mass killings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, acts of violence that spurred Congress to advance bipartisan legislation strengthening federal gun laws. The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing for the majority and the court’s three liberals in dissent.
In no more than 250 words, identify what you think is the worst thing a copy editor can do or allow regarding the editing of a news story, and explain why you think it is the worst.
Following the completion of the six steps above, you are ready to submit your application.
Email your complete application as an attachment — ONE single PDF file – with “Walsh scholarship” in the message field – to alex@aceseditors.org. Begin the file name of your attachment with your last name.
Provide your résumé, with evidence of academic achievement and exemplary work in editing. Please include information on other substantial achievements/activities/interests.
References: Provide the names and titles or job descriptions of a total of three instructors and/or work supervisors, and their contact information.
Please explain, in no more than 500 words, what your “dream job” is and what specific steps you have taken to gain knowledge and skills in pursuit of that job. (Don’t worry, this isn’t carved in stone – you can change your mind later!)
Address the following three scenarios:
Scenario 1: You work in a university teaching resource center and want to share this article with your audience of academics across disciplines: https://theconversation.com/the-enduring-power-of-print-for-learning-in-a-digital-world-84352
Write a tweet that encompasses the main takeaway of the article for your followers. Limit the tweet to 250 characters so you have room for the link.
Scenario 2: You work in the communication department of a hospital and are putting together a booklet about sleep for patients. Write a title/headline of no more than 10 words for the following short article:
Keeping your bedroom dark not only helps you get a good night's sleep, but may significantly lower your odds of developing three major health problems, a new study suggests.
Older men and women who used night lights, or left their TV, smartphone or tablet on in the room were more likely to be obese, and have high blood pressure and diabetes, compared with adults who were not exposed to any light during the night. The study doesn't prove that exposure to light during sleep causes any of these health conditions, only that there may be a link.
"It's not natural to see those lights at night," said Dr. Minjee Kim, an assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University. "Light actually turns off some of the parts in the brain that tell our body it's the daytime versus nighttime. So those signals are messed up in a way, because the circadian signal is weakened, and over time, that has implications for our health."
Scenario 3: You are editing a news story for a campus publication. Based on this excerpt, what questions do you have for the reporter?
Naturally, when Margie Bogart returned home from studying abroad in Argentina, her family wanted to see pictures of her trip. However, it was this small gesture that made her realize that the word “normal” had lost its meaning.
“It was kind of like, ‘life’s supposed to be normal again, and for me it’s not,’” she said. “I feel like I’ve changed and learned new things and seen all these new things and going back to normal life, it doesn’t fit the same again.”
Ana Lopez had a similar encounter when she tried to describe an experience she had in the country and her family laughed at her.
Bogart and Lopez, both seniors, spent six weeks studying advanced Spanish in Buenos Aires as part of the university’s Study Abroad Program. However, after stepping back on U.S. soil, they’ve found the transition back to small-town American culture is a little more complicated than they thought. They miss the convenience and buzz of city life.
Lopez said the readjustment to life in Kansas after returning from Buenos Aires has been difficult. She said she’s still adjusting to rural life.
“The lack of constant activity is deadly,” she said.
Bogart has moved around the U.S. but never to a big city. Seeing buses and subways everywhere and waking up to blaring car horns at 6 a.m. were new experiences.
“It’s a little bit like how I would imagine New York, where the people are busy all the time and a little bit more blunt,” she said. “It’s a little different compared to Midwesterners.”
Bogart and Lopez said returning from speaking primarily Spanish to their native English has been rough.
“At the end of a conversation I want to say ‘ciao,’ but everyone is like, ‘what are you saying?’” Bogart said.
One thing the two haven’t had any problem adjusting to is homestyle food in the States. The first thing Lopez did when she got home was eat a burrito, and Bogart’s grandma made her a huge lunch complete with ham, potatoes and strawberry pound cake.
“While you’re there, the whole time you’re like, ‘I would love to go to Buffalo Wild Wings, I would love a cheeseburger now, that sounds so good.’ And then you get back and you’re like ‘I wish I could eat this from Argentina,’” Bogart said. “Wherever you are, you want the other type of food.
The short amount of time meant that the group had to take advantage of every opportunity to explore the city and culture.
“Six weeks is definitely not enough time to become bilingual, what we learned came mostly from outside of the classroom,” Lopez said. “We benefitted immensely from the cultural immersion. The reality of South America is intoxicating, terrifying and stunning.”
Email your complete application as an attachment — ONE single PDF file – with “ACES
Following the completion of the four steps above, you are ready to submit your application.
Email your complete application as an attachment — ONE single PDF file – with “ACES scholarship” in the message field – to lisa.mclendon@gmail.com. Begin the file name of your attachment with your last name.