Two UH Hilo students awarded scholarships from Big Island Press Club
Communication majors Britni Schock and Eli Matola are two of this year’s press club scholarship recipients.
The Big Island Press Club has awarded scholarships to two students attending the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
Britni Schock was awarded the $600 Yukino Fukabori Memorial Scholarship, given to honor one of Hawaiʻi Island’s top woman news reporters. Schock graduated from Canada’s Selkirk Secondary in 2008 and attends UH Hilo where she is a communication major. She is a writer for the UH Hilo student newspaper Ke Kalahea. She is also a student member of Big Island Press Club.
“After graduation I hope to find a position as a writer somewhere on the Big Island and continue my passion for writing,” says Schock.
This year’s Jack Markey Memorial Scholarship is awarded to Eli Matola. Matola is a 2011 graduate of Kapaʻa High School on Kauaʻi. He attends UH Hilo where he is a philosophy and communication major. Next semester at UH Hilo, he will be an intern at the Applied Learning Experiences Program where he will be a staff writer. His favorite news site is Vice.com which often features investigative news in a narrative, documentary format.
“Ever since I was young, I have always had a very special interest in the news…this passion has followed me as a young adult,” says Matola.
With poor vision, unable to drive a car, and a senior citizen Jack Markey was a visible streetside Hilo fixture. Hitchhiking around town to sell radio advertising, Markey also recruited new members for the Big Island Press Club in the process. Since his death in 1990, the press club has funded a yearly $500 Markey scholarship.
Other scholarship winners included Kacie LaGuire, Alex Bitter, and Cashman Aiu, all attending other schools.
–Big Island Chronicle.
