In memory of Karen Shollenberger, we are running her interview with STC-PMC again. Karen won student membership two years in a row with our Philadelphia chapter. You may have read her interview before or spotted her at a PMC event on campus at Drexel or at Wharton. Thank you, Karen, for sharing your insights on the tech comm industry from the student perspective.

Our thoughts are with Karen’s family and friends during this difficult time. For more information on Karen, please see Drexel Triangle’s touching tribute.

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Meet the students who have already won STC Student Membership! Karen is also competing for the STC-PMC scholarship along with several other students. Take a minute to get to know more about Karen and her views on TechComm! We will be featuring other students throughout the week.

Name: Karen Shollenberger

School: Drexel University

Major/Program: BS/MS Technical and Science Communication

Graduation: December 2017

When and how did you get involved in STC? I got involved as a student member last year after some encouragement from a friend (last year’s scholarship winner, Sara). I was only able to attend one event but I’m hoping to make it to more this year!

How has your STC membership benefited you?  STC provides a great opportunity for networking. All of my co-op experience was in Maryland, so STC has helped me connect with more people in Philadelphia. Also, I went to an event focused on freelancing last year. Prior to the event, I had never even considered freelancing, but after listening to the panelists, it’s something I would consider doing on the side or even eventually full-time. Also, one of the panelists was a drone photographer and his presentation was fascinating!

Why did you choose to get involved in TechComm? I’ve always liked science and writing, so tech/science comm seemed like the perfect combination.

What does your current professional position entail? OR Have you ever had an internship in TechComm? If so, how do you think it benefited you? My last co-op was at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. I worked on requirements documentation for robotic/autonomous systems. It was my first exposure to model-based systems engineering and agile development so I learned a lot!

Android or iOS? Android

Oxford comma. Yes or no? Personally, I like it because I think it can avoid a lot of confusion, but I’ve spent a lot of time editing in AP Style so I don’t use it as much as I used to.

And finally, what do you enjoy for fun? I love to travel and am currently planning a cross-country road trip for this summer. I also enjoy volunteering. I’m on the planning committee for two camps, one for kids with cancer and one for their siblings.

STC-PMC is looking for you! We need volunteers for the upcoming program year! Not sure you can commit to a full year? No problem! We’ll work with you around your schedule. Check out the Volunteer page for more information.

Open Positions:

Secretary/Membership: Do you want to get to know the whole chapter? Help keep STC-PMC organized and up-to-date, generate member reports and greet new chapter members. Our Secretary and Membership chair helps with that and more.

Sponsorship: Work with our sponsors and partners. Like the free swag from O’Reilly at meetings? The Sponsorship chair helps us arrange all that.

Conference: We always need extra hands planning the conference. Sign up to help plan Conduit. Options include making the program or agenda, set up/take down, evaluating proposals, and publicity.