Steven Simpson, a current senior at Johns Hopkins University (JHU), has carved a path for himself defined by curiosity, creativity, and a commitment to marketing. These traits contributed to him winning $3,000 as the 1st place winner of the Eileen Gwin Undergraduate Marketing Scholarship for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Since arriving at JHU in Fall 2021, Simpson has been combining his affinity for visual technology with his love of storytelling and is currently on track to earn his Bachelor of Arts for Film & Media Studies in May 2025. Additionally, Steven will have completed the requirements for five minors: Business, Leadership Studies, Marketing & Communications, Entrepreneurship & Management, and Accounting & Financial Management.

“It’s a lot. If there was a [marketing] major, I would do it, but there’s not,” said Steven. He describes this combination of minors as a “mini MBA” that gives him exposure to several different concentrations, client work, and research opportunities.

Outside of his academic work, Steven has held key roles in student organizations, attended festivals and conferences, and held internships that have shaped his outlook on film and marketing.

Steven’s Path to Student Leadership

Steven has been a fan of filmmaking since high school, where he worked on several films and attended multiple film festivals. His fascination with marketing took root during his first semester at Hopkins when he learned about JHU’s collegiate chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) at a student involvement fair. “I really wanted to complement my storytelling and my film background with something a little bit more technical and business-oriented,” said Steven.

At the beginning of his Freshman Fall, Steven joined JHU AMA. The following semester, he took on the role of Business Analyst for Nest Strategies, the student-led consulting arm of the collegiate chapter. In this role, he was part of a six-person team of fellow analysts who were led by an Account Executive with the goal of helping local businesses with their marketing needs. During his Sophomore Fall, Steven became an Account Executive himself. For the entirety of 2023, he served as the Vice President of Consulting for JHU AMA and served the following year as the President.

One of Steven’s favorite memories as President is the 2024 AMA International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans, which he attended alongside 12 JHU AMA members and the organization’s advisor. “We got to hear from some of the best keynote speakers, network with some of the top companies, andfigure out strategies and different resources to support us as an AMA chapter. I think it’s really great for all of our students to experience that as well as bring what they learned back to our campus.” The conference was also an opportunity for JHU AMA to compete in a variety of competitions, such as the Marketplace Simulations Competition, Marketing Strategy Competition, Instagram Highlight Reel Competition, and Sales Competition.

When he wasn’t leading JHU AMA, Steven was an active member of TEDxJHU, a student group that hosts a bi-annual TED Talk event on JHU’s Homewood campus with a lineup of undergraduate students. “I love the storytelling component of it, you know? I love the concept around the mission of TEDx,” shared Steven. During his freshman year, he joined the organization’s Technology & Multimedia Team, which focuses on the technical and visual components behind producing the event. Today, he’s the Event Curator—a role akin to President—and looks forward to producing their final event of the academic year this April.

Applying for the Eileen Gwin Undergraduate Marketing Scholarship

As a First-Generation Limited Income (FLI) student at JHU, Steven is no stranger to proactively seeking out opportunities to be financially supported during his academic journey. His attendance at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah—a trip funded in part by his university’s Life Design Center—is a testament to that.

Steven initially heard about the Eileen Gwin Undergraduate Marketing Scholarship while catching up with a Nest Strategies alum who was serving as AMA Baltimore’s Vice President of Collegiate Relations during the 2023-2024 academic year. While reading the scholarship webpage, he went on to learn more about past winners and the legacy of Eileen Gwin, an AMA Baltimore Past President and Vice President of Programming who was instrumental in the growth of AMA Baltimore for multiple years.

“I think I had to do a big reflection process while filling out the scholarship application,” said Steven. “And I think there were also some fun questions on there about, you know, what’s your favorite brand and stuff like that. It allowed me to showcase things I could really speak to.”

Steven’s advice for current scholarship applicants is simple: be yourself.

“There is not one ideal person that is fit for the scholarship. I think through being yourself, showing what you’re passionate about, showing what inspires you, and connecting the scholarship to your goals as an individual as well as a professional really helps with creating a great application.”

To prepare for the phone call interview, Steven made sure he was able to meaningfully talk about different projects he has worked on, both big and small. He also made sure he was up to date on different marketing strategies by using a variety of resources, such as blog posts available on the AMA Baltimore website.

Attending the 39th Annual MX Awards

In May 2024, Steven received the news that he had won the 1st place award for the Eileen Gwin Undergraduate Marketing Scholarship. Winning this scholarship has gone towards his books, his meal plan, and more. It also granted him an invitation to AMA Baltimore’s 39th Annual MX Awards, an event that celebrates the creative marketing campaigns of Baltimore-based companies and the on-the-rise marketers–the scholarship winners.

“It was inspiring. I really liked seeing all the campaigns. Seeing the graphics and the videos and seeing not only what tangibles were presented but the impact it was having in Baltimore and the greater Maryland area. It was really cool seeing the companies I recognized or have networked with in the past have their work recognized on a greater scale.”

Want to see more of Steven? Connect with him on LinkedIn!

If you are an undergraduate marketing student looking to seize an opportunity as Steven did, apply to the 2025 Eileen Gwin Undergraduate Marketing Scholarship today! Applications are to be submitted no later than Friday, May 23rd, 2025.