By Amelia Kibbe

This year’s Flamminio Scholarship winner feels a special connection to the scholarship’s namesake, former veteran newsman Ralph Flamminio.

“I applied because I am actually from the same county as Mr. Flamminio,” Emily Rolen said. “He was also involved in Temple’s journalism program and I went to Temple.”

The award, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Associated Press Media Editors, is given to a Pennsylvania resident enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program who’s dedicated to journalism and communications.

Under her leadership as editor-in-chief from 2014 to 2016, the Temple News secured many statewide awards. The Downingtown native also interned as a reporter for TheStreet.com, WHYY’s Newsworks and as a college correspondent for USA Today.

While Rolen is still figuring out what’s next, she said she hopes to become an international reporter, focusing on politics and diplomacy.

“I always wanted to be a journalist as a kid,” she said. “As I got into school, I saw how (the field) was changing, and that didn’t deter me from wanting to go into the industry. It gave me new challenges to attack. I think it is more important now than it was when I was a kid.”