The Department of Communication annually selects one outstanding undergraduate student to be awarded with the Martin Horn Scholarship. Since achieving great success in marketing communications, alumnus Martin Horn has made several generous donations to the UConn Department of Communication, from which the scholarship is awarded. The 2017-2018 recipient is Meghan O’Niel.

Meghan is a Senior at the University. She is double majoring in Sociology and Communication with a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS). She originally entered UConn as a sociology major, but after taking The Process of Communication (COMM 1000) as a sophomore, Professor Stifano and Graduate Assistant Kimberly Embacher inspired her to pursue a degree in communication. She found communications to be an interesting field to venture in to because it’s valuable to many sectors in her personal and professional life.

Through her undergraduate courses she learned what it takes to be a communications professional. Meghan is currently the UConn Club Sports Social Media Coordinator. This being her first position in the field of communication, it is a great learning experience for her and it’s allowing her to apply the skills that she’s learned thus far to this job.

After she graduates, she plans on continuing her education by attending graduate school. She has applied to multiple programs in the U.K., and has already been accepted to one. She’s incredibly passionate about gender equality and is looking to pursue a Masters Degree in an area related to WGSS.

This scholarship has already helped Meghan pursue her career goals. Not only did receiving this award give her the extra boost of confidence that she needed, it also allowed her to be able to afford to apply to all of the schools that she was interested in. 

In her time at UConn she has found that knowing how to communicate with others is an invaluable skill across all areas of life. Professionally she feels more confident when working in teams because of her undergraduate courses. She has also found that being a Communication major has prepared her for career opportunities in many different sectors, which gives her confidence knowing that she has freedom to find a career that she will love.

Every year the Department of Communication award the Martin Horn Scholarship to an outstanding undergraduate student. Since achieving great success in marketing communications, alumnus Martin Horn has made several generous donations to the department, from which the scholarship is awarded. The 2016-2017 recipient of the scholarship is Katie Landrey.

 

Katie is a senior, double majoring in Psychological Sciences and Communication. She added a Communication major in her junior year at the university. Interpersonal communication and public speaking have always been areas of interest for her studies because of her experiences facilitating small group discussions and giving presentations.

 

Katie has previous experience teaching for Freedom School, which is a national program that strives to improve literacy skills in low income minority students. Her role with the school was to create lesson plans and to work one-on-one with scholars and staff. In addition to the Freedom School, Katie has experience facilitating discussions. She was a teaching assistant for UConn’s First Year Experience program as well as a trained facilitator for The Body Project, which is a cognitive dissonance based program that promotes positive body image.

 

In the future, Katie aspires to earn her Masters in higher education where she can have a career that allows her to work with students on a daily basis, helping them with both career and academic development. She wants a career where her ability to effectively communicate in various settings is important, so studying communication was an easy choice for her to make and added to her knowledge and skills.

 

This scholarship created more opportunity for Katie. She stated, “My peers in the Communication department are outstanding, and it is an honor to be recognized amongst such an intelligent group of students. This recognition does help in my pursuit of a graduate education, and it has impacted my confidence as I continue to develop professionally and academically.” The Department of Communication is proud of Katie and is excited to see where this scholarship will take her.

 

For the past five years, UConn’s Department of Communication has had the opportunity to award a scholarship to an outstanding undergraduate student, thanks to a very generous donation from alumnus Martin Horn. After earning a B.A. and M.A. in Communication from UConn, Martin Horn went on to achieve great success in marketing communications. The selection process for this scholarship is very in-depth, only to ensure that the recipient is one of the most hard working, successful, and driven students of the department. The scholarship gives students the opportunities to explore passions and take their future careers to new heights.

The 2013-2014 winner of the Martin Horn scholarship was Kaitlyn Young. This scholarship allowed Kaitlyn to spend her final semester abroad in Cuzco, Peru, which fueled her passion for Latin American culture. This trip inspired her so much, that within just a few short months she was back on a plane to Ecuador where she backpacked for six months and became a fluent Spanish speaker.  Kaitlyn Young has since graduated from the university, and then pursued her knowledge of communication and passion for yoga and health to work for her local wellness center as their social media and email marketing manager as well as a yoga instructor. She loves this position because she’s furthering her passion for communication by creating content that she’s actually passionate about.

Kaitlyn has already made large strides in her career as she currently teaches at two yoga studios and hosts her own highly praised workshops. These workshops guide beginner yoga students in order to feel safe and knowledgeable inside their bodies, creating a comfortable and judgment free space. She uses her social media and marketing background to run an online yoga community through Facebook. Kaitlyn shares local yoga events, live streams video chats every Sunday about mindfulness and yoga practices, and writes a blog that complements yoga as a lifestyle.

Amidst all of her new explorations in the world of health and wellness, she gives a lot of credit to the resources she earned at UConn:

“The work I did in the COMM Society set the stage for these leadership roles I hold in my community.  Between programming, event planning, public speaking and working interpersonally I have felt so well-prepared for these new ventures. The Martin Horn Scholarship gave me the funds to study abroad and follow my passion. If it were not for this opportunity, I wouldn’t have learned so early on that stepping out of comfort zones can lead to unforeseen success.”
The Department of Communication is thrilled to share stories of our alumni stepping into the world and make it their own!