by Connie Kindsvater

Nicole, a life-long Yankees fan who grew up in New Jersey before moving to Naples with her parents and two younger brothers, was chosen as one of NPC’s 2008 Scholarship Students. A graduate of Palmetto Ridge H. S. in the top 10% of her class, Nicole enrolled in the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa as a Journalism major. 

In high school she worked on both the school newspaper and the yearbook, and one of her teachers said, “Nicole loves to write; she gets her assignments done, on time and is very organized. I wish that all students cared as much about their finished product as she does!” 

Nicole says, “Journalism became important to me when I realized how much I love to write, and with journalism I am able to put my writing to use and make something of myself.” 

Her favorite Journalism class at USF thus far is “Writing for Mass Media,” because the class built on what she learned in her internship with è Bella magazine (summer-2009) and in her high school newspaper class. She looks forward to future classes on editing and possibly magazine media. 

Just this week Nicole learned that she has been accepted as a 2010 summer intern at the Naples Daily News—and she is thrilled! 

Nicole is not overly concerned with declining newspaper circulation numbers; she feels that it is inevitable with the advances in technology. In her opinion, there will always be newspapers, even though they may be published electronically. She prefers to “hold” what she is reading, but realizes that many people are “connected,” and enjoy the convenience of “reading on the go.” As far as her own career is concerned, she would love to be a Copy Editor and feels that position will always be needed, whether the media is printed or online.

Nicole’s favorite pastime is reading, and she now owns over 1,000 books. Blue is her favorite color, pasta and steak are her favorite foods, and NCIS is her favorite TV show, although she doesn’t have much time to watch TV. She works at Sun-N-Fun Lagoon in North Naples during school breaks, and she balances that with her summer internships and taking a class or two while at home in Naples.

Our NPC Scholarship Student Award has helped Nicole financially, which she appreciates, and she is also very pleased with her NPC mentor, Connie Kindsvater. She credits Connie with helping her in many ways, especially with ideas for summer internships and answering her various questions about journalistic matters.

Nicole wants to say to our NPC members: “I hope you are proud of the work I have accomplished thus far. I will continue working as hard as I am now and am happy to take any advice that you have to give me.”