In a series of on-the-spot and mail-in competitions, the journalism department won a total of 16 awards at this year’s Journalism Association of Community Colleges Southern California Conference.
Among 26 colleges, the Union staff competed in various events that put their journalistic skills to the test.
“I knew nothing about archery. To win an award for writing about something I knew absolutely nothing about was great.” Nelson Amaya, journalism major, said.
Amaya won an honorable mention award for his sports story on an archery practice.
“It was really exciting to win an award. It really makes all the hard work worth it,” Samantha Troisi, journalism major, said.
Troisi won a second-place award for an on-the-spot feature story.
The conference also provided various workshops, which had professionals talking about their experience in the field.
“I found the workshops were very interesting, especially the broadcasting workshop because while I’ve been a writer and an editor, broadcasting is like a whole different animal,” Miles Villalon, journalism major, said. “It was nice to see how the broadcasters do it.”
The conference also included mail-in competitions that awarded the college magazine, Warrior Life, a general excellence award.
“I was extremely excited when we received honorable mention for the magazine for its layout and design, and even more excited when the magazine won two awards for opinion and feature writing. I had a great team. I am so proud of them,” Haipha Simon, editor-in-chief of that magazine, said.
Photo editor Sylwia Ozdzynski also won a mail-in award for her photo essay about a martial arts class at EC that was published in the Union last semester.
“It is awesome and it is an honor to be recognized for my photography and get to work with awesome people,” Ozdzynski, photography major, said.
Overall, it was a great experience for many students.
“I’ve gone three times and this was my first time winning, which made it great. Now I can’t wait until next semester where I will win again,” Annastashia Goolsby, journalism major, said.