WASHINGTON – Jarondakie Patrick, a junior journalism major, earned an all-expenses paid scholarship to study in Japan, a step toward realizing her dreams of traveling the world as a professional writer.

In April, the Scripps Howard Foundation announced Patrick as one of the nine winners of its annual Roy W. Howard National Collegiate Reporting Competition. Travel begins June 17 and includes incursions primarily in the Kansai region cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe,  which are far outside of the earthquake and tsunami area and not affected by 
the subsequent tremors.

“I know if I can make it to Japan, in due time I can make it to France, Ghana, Brazil and make this dream more of a reality,” Patrick said.

Patrick has long held an interest in international journalism. This year she volunteered for Women for Women International, an organization that supports women in war-torn regions of the world.

The reporting competition, established in 1984, honors the memory of journalist Roy W. Howard who led the Scripps Howard Newspapers from 1922 to 1953 and United Press International from 1912 to 1920. The trip will be led by Bradley J. Hamm, dean of the journalism school at Indiana University.