Each year, the NJSWA presents the scholarship to an outstanding NJ college journalism student.  Zimmerman, a journalism major with a minor in women’s & gender studies, will be the association’s 12^th recipient of the award and TCNJ’s second honoree.  In 2003, TCNJ’s David Kraska was bestowed the honor of the NJSWA scholarship.

“Winning the NJSWA scholarship is an incredible opportunity. It’s very difficult to break into this field and I’m hoping this will open up some doors for me,” exclaimed Zimmerman.

Zimmerman served as the sports editor for TCNJ’s campus paper, The Signal, and was in charge of coming up with story ideas, assigning stories and photos to her staff, editing her staff’s writing, and laying out pages.  She also contributed one or more articles and/or editorials a week.  Before becoming the sports editor, Zimmerman had been a staff writer for two years.

Other journalistic endeavors include being a media relations intern for the NY/NJ Juggernaut pro softball team in the summer of 2004 and an intern for the CNN financial network in the summer of 2003.  She currently serves as a correspondent for The Shopper News of Fairlawn, NJ.

In the 2003 New Jersey Press Association Better College Newspaper Contest, The Signal took first place in overall excellence and Zimmerman earned an honorable mention award for sports writing.

Last season, she ranked in the Top 5 among league players in batting average (.413), slugging percentage (.606), on-base percentage (.472) and triples (3).  Zimmerman was selected to the 2004 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-East Region, Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro All-Star, and New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) First Teams as well as the 2004 CoSIDA Academic All-District II College Division Softball Second Team. 

The NJSWA is a unique association made up of journalists that honor athletes, coaches, and administrators with ties to New Jersey for their achievements on the local, state, and national levels.