Student Opportunities
Student Opportunities
About
Through its 200+ college chapters, the AAF provides more than 5,000 advertising and marketing students on campuses throughout the United States with industry experience and exposure, professional development opportunities and recruitment connections to corporate America.
You can learn more about starting an AAF college chapter on your campus and the many advantages of joining the American Advertising Federation as a college chapter member in our College Chapter Guide to Success.
In addition, AAF Midlands offers several opportunities for students in our area from scholarships to internships to networking with industry professionals.
Student Opportunities
AES Fund
The AES (Advertising Education Sponsor) fund, is used to help support college students in the AAF’s third district as they compete in the National Student Advertising Competition. As a way to invest in our future leaders, we provided three student scholarships.
Congratulations to this years scholarship recipients: Michaela Catoe, Sarah Turner and Lara Zwiebel.
Student Opportunities
Student American Advertising awards
The AAF Student American Advertising Awards Competition, sponsored by the AAF and National Ad 2, is a unique national awards program designed specially for college students. Work entered at your local level can move up to the regional and national judging, just like the work entered by professionals across the country.
Applicants must be enrolled full- or part-time in an accredited U.S. educational institution. Student interns are eligible to enter.
Submit work developed specifically for this competition or from previous projects or student contests (work must be created while the entrant is a student not employed in the advertising industry). National winning entries may receive the following:
- Finalist certificate—great for résumés and portfolios
- Prestigious Student American Advertising Award for first-place winners
- $1,000 cash prize for National Best of Show winner
Scholarship Requirements:
- Applicant must be a deserving senior in college, graduating in 2015 and majoring in advertising, public relations, marketing, fine arts or visual communications OR an alumnus/alumna who has graduated within the past year and is still seeking a professional job in one of the above fields.
- Applicant should have a minimum 3.0 GPA.
- Applicant must be seeking a job in the Columbia-Metro area and have the ability to attend monthly luncheons during lunch hours.
Scholarship Award
The selected scholarship recipient will be awarded one (1) Individual Membership to the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Midlands. Worth $275, this membership entitles the scholarship recipient to:
- One-year membership to AAF (Fall 2016-Spring 2017)
- Free admission to monthly luncheons and after-hours networking events
- Access to industry professionals
- Discounted American Advertising Awards entry fees for freelance work and discounted American Advertising Awards ticket to the thematic bash in February 2017
- Discounts from companies such as ADAGE, Hertz, Fed-Ex and other leading companies
As part of an effort to support diversity and inclusion within the advertising industry, AAF Midlands Diversity Committee designed a program to provide students with a hands-on experience in the advertising/communications field.
The internship offers high school students the opportunity to gain insightful experience and establish contacts within the advertising industry. Students will be selected to participate in a two-week winter or summer internship program that will place them in various host organizations throughout the area.
Through this experience, the interns will gain an understanding of the different disciplines and opportunities that exist within the field. One student who completes the Diversity Internship Program will be be awarded a $500 scholarship for the college or university they chose to attend.
If you want to nominate or host a student intern, please contact Jernell Simmons at jnssimmons@gmail.com or 803.575.0524. If you’re a student and want to participate in our student intern opportunity, fill out the form and contact Jernell for further questions.