Drexel LeBow Senior Named Philly Ad Club 'Philly's Future' Scholarship Winner

LeBow College of Business senior Jessica Csakai '11 has been named one of Philly Ad Club’s 2011 “Philly’s Future” Scholarship Award recipients.

The annual competition, which honors student achievements in advertising and communications, awarded a total of $26,000 in scholarships to 10 Philadelphia students this year, marking the organization’s largest endowment to date.

Nominated by Hyokjin Kwak, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing at Drexel LeBow, Csakai was one of six $1,000 winners.

News of the nomination came in mid-February — just in time to complicate finals week for the hard-working senior. Csakai, a top freestyle swimmer on the Drexel University Swim Team, was also prepping to compete in the Colonial Athletic Association Championships at the end of the month, which made tying down all of the application materials particularly challenging.

“[Dr. Kwak] presented it as 'you're doing this,'” Csakai says. “So I did it. I didn't sleep much that week. I revamped a bunch of my projects, met with another professor for some extra advice, and shipped off a whole box of application paperwork and projects to the Philly Ad Club.”

Csakai, who has already completed co-ops at Ballard Spahr L.L.P. and medical device manufacturer Synthes, credits the Drexel co-op experience, as well as a little guidance from career services advisers Lisa DeLuca and Sarafina Nicolosi, for preparing her to make it through the interview process with Philly Ad Club.

“I've gone on a ton of interviews and have received some great advice along the way from my bosses and mentors at work, so going into the interview I really wasn't nervous at all,” Csakai says. “I left the interview feeling confident.”

Csakai’s hard work certainly appears to have paid off. Not only did she complete the term with a 4.0 GPA and help shatter a 21-year-old school record in the 400-meter Freestyle Relay at the CAA Championships, Csakai learned she was selected as one of this year’s “Philly’s Future” scholarship winners while on the job at her third co-up at Energy Plus.

“I had a fantastic end of term,” Csakai says. “It was an amazing honor and I’m grateful to be fortunate enough to have experienced it.”