SBHS Alum Wins Prestigious Scholarship

From South Brunswick to the bright lights of New York City, a township resident has earned a prestigious award from a major foundation celebrating the accomplishments of women in the media.

Brooke Sassman, a South Brunswick High School graduate and current sophomore at Rutgers University, recently won a 2013 scholarship from The New York Women in Communications Foundation. Sassman will be among the honorees at the annual Matrix Awards, to be held on April 22 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

"To be recognized and believed in by such powerful leaders in the industry is really inspiring to me," Sassman said. "Just receiving any award in general is such an honor, and I was one of only 18 girls to receive the award."

The scholarship is open to young women from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, or who attend college in any of the five boroughs of New York City.

Sassman will be recognized with her peers during an event that will feature Matrix Award winners and presenters, including Audra McDonald, Joanna Coles, Bonnie Hammer, Ryan Seacrest, Barry Diller and Mindy Grossman.

The foundation gives out monetary scholarships in total of more than $100,000, which are awarded annually based on academics, leadership, participation in school and community-service activities, and other awards or recognition, work experience, statement of goals and aspirations.

Sassman, a Journalism and Media Studies major, is president of the sophomore class at Rutgers and started a campus chapter of  a New York-based non-profit that sponsors girls education in developing countries. In addition, she interns for Cosmopolitan Magazine and held a supervisor position at RUTV, among other activities.

Sassman is currently weighing her career options between magazines and television.

"I love every minute of it," she said. "I'm torn between magazines and TV right now, so I'm still trying to figure that out. I was strictly TV before I took a writing course and the internship at Cosmo, which I love. But I'm hoping to do another internship in TV and sort it out."

The New York Women in Communications Foundation seeks to help young women enter the world of communications with financial support and professional guidance. Sassman said the opportunity to be recognized by the group, along with meeting successful women in her field, is the chance of a lifetime.

"Im really excited because the Editor-in-Chief at Cosmo will be there so I hope I have an opportunity to meet her," she said. "I'm excited to be part of the entire thing, getting to rub elbows with high profile women and experience what the industry is like."