Rotary program sending young journalist to Czech Republic

A former Sahuarita resident is heading to Eastern Europe this fall as part of a Rotary International scholarship program.

Annalyn Censky, a recent graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and a former Green Valley News intern, will spend nine months in the Czech Republic beginning in September.

As a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship recipient, Censky will study in Prague in an English-language program while also learning the basics of the Czech language. In addition, she will meet with Czech Rotarians, speak to their clubs and take part in a Rotary community service program in Prague.

Censky, 21, is looking forward to studying Czech culture, history and art at Prague’s Charles University, founded in 1342. Some of her classes will be held in old castle buildings, said Censky, whose family heritage is Czech.

As a young journalist who has interned for Fortune Small Business magazine, the Phoenix Business Journal and the Arizona Republic, Censky will write freelance articles for CNN “Money” and “MarketWatch” while in Eastern Europe.

“It will be exciting to be in Prague,” Censky told members of the Rotary Club of Green Valley at a recent luncheon at St. Francis-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church.

She pointed out that 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of a free press in the Czech Republic, and she is anxious to learn how journalism has evolved in that country since it became independent of the former Soviet Union. She also wants to see how the business of journalism has played out since foreign businesses came in and took ownership of the Czech press.

However, she notes, the community service project and involvement with the Czech Rotarians will be her first priority.

World peace—while a very broad and idealistic goal—is at the heart of the Rotary’s ambassadorial scholarship program, said Censky, who is being sponsored in the program by Arizona Rotary District 5510, based in Phoenix.

Founded in 1947, the program connects Rotary Clubs around the world and allows them to share such club values as service before self, Censky said.

The program aims to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries. While abroad, scholars serve as goodwill ambassadors to the host country and give presentations about their homelands to Rotary clubs and other groups. Upon returning home, scholars share with Rotarians and the others the experiences that led to a greater understanding of their host country.

“This scholarship program has proven itself to produce leaders” who dedicate themselves to world peace, Censky said, citing several former participants including veteran journalist Bill Moyers and Arizona Legislator Jonathan Paton.

“When I look back on the events that shaped my life, my experience as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar ranks toward the top,” Paton said in a recent Rotarian e-mail.

“I think that experience gives all young people ability and the confidence to be leaders in our own country. That is one of the reasons I am so proud of Annalyn Censky. By leaving Sahuarita, going to college and then exploring life in another country, she is a role model for other young people in Southern Arizona,” Paton said.

“It is her chosen profession of journalism, however, that will benefit most from her year abroad. Our country desperately needs reporters who understand their own country and the world. Annalyn’s experience is going to fill that need,” he said.

kwalenga@gvnews.com | 547-9739