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Press Release

Melissa Pellegrin Awards
Go to Cooper and Gaal

Kelli Cooper and Anna Gaal topped a competitive field to receive the coveted undergraduate and graduate grants presented from the chapter's Melissa Pellegrin Memorial Scholarship Funds at the Trends '98 technical communication conference at the Expo Center October 2.

The undergraduate and graduate awards were for $300 apiece, and come from the scholarship fund established last year to honor the memory of a recent UCF graduate, fellow chapter member, and esteemed professional colleague. The recipients' names will be added to the memorial plaque on permanent display in the UCF English Department.

In addition to the UCF scholarships, excellence awards of $100 each were presented to Brad Paddock of Seminole Community College and Patricia Pierattini of Valencia C.C.

Cooper, who works two part-time jobs while carrying a full course load, maintains an overall GPA of 3.7. She was especially pleased to combine her love of horses with a love of writing when she designed and produced an operations manual for an equestrian facility as a required independent study project.

Gaal finds her undergraduate degree in creative writing a good foundation for graduate work in technical communication. Maintaining a 4.0 average, she works part-time at Federal Express in the project management department of their Information Technology division. After gaining more industry experience, she plans to teach technical communication.

"We congratulate all of the students on their scholarships and awards," declared Dan Voss, manager of the STC Education Committee which made the selections. "They were tops in an excellent field. We had a difficult time making our decisions."

In the conclusion of her essay in the scholarship application, Gaal stated that at last year's Trends conference, "I was struck by the impression Melissa Pellegrin had made on faculty, students, and colleagues within the field of technical communication. I would consider it an honor to be awarded a scholarship in her name, and would continue to pursue the highest standards for both the field of technical communication and myself."

Such is the unique challenge of our profession.