“If you had told me two years ago I would get Reporter of the Year, I would have said you are crazy!” The Union newspaper News Editor Erica Lee said.

This is but one of many accomplishments Lee and the El Camino College journalism program achieved during MediaFest 25, a college media convention held Oct. 15-18 in Washington, D.C.

“It is nuts looking back at it. Around this time three years ago I was looking at going back to school for journalism,” Lee said.

During this period, she was only working at the Los Angeles International Airport before registering at ECC and beginning her journey as a journalist for The Union.

Lee looks back on the trip to Washington, and when compared to previous conferences, was “more relaxed.”

The Union photo editor Oriana de Quay mentions how during the trip, as it was her first semester being on the editorial board, she went into the trip being “open to the experience” and “looking for a role model for inspiration.”

“I think I was able to find that,” de Quay said.

The Union and Warrior Life magazine were finalists in numerous categories for the Associated Collegiate Press awards ceremony held on the final day of the convention, Saturday, Oct. 18, starring alongside many well-renowned two-year and four-year colleges.

The Union Editor-in-Chief Nikki Yunker received honorable mention in Story of the Year, in the In-Depth News Story category, for her story on college Basic Needs Centers’ increase in demand and for her editorial.

Lee received an honorable mention in Story of the Year, in the Ernie Pyle Human Interest Profile category, for her profile on Torrance Bakery owner and ECC alumnus Kirk Rossberg, featured in Warrior Life.

Photo of the Year also saw honorable mentions, with former The Union and Warrior Life photojournalist Eddy Cermeno making the list in the Feature Photo and Environmental Portrait categories for Warrior Life.

Alongside these honorable mentions, both The Union and Warrior Life were also nominated for the Pacemaker award, being named among 49 finalists.

“I felt so honored to see both the magazine and newspaper be nominated as finalists, since it hasn’t been nominated in a while,” Yunker said.

And for the big wins for the program, Lee’s Reporter of the Year award stands out, as it is the first time an ECC student has won first place for it.

In prior years, ECC’s student journalists had placed in the top five for the award.

“I’m looking back at all the stories I have written and all the accomplishments I have achieved. It is crazy, really,” Lee said. “I did not think I was going to get first place. I was up against 9 other amazing student journalists, mostly from Texas and California.”

To win such an award is amazing in its own right, and the feeling of awe and amazement stuck with Lee for the duration of the trip.

“I was in absolute disbelief. It felt like accepting the Oscar,” Lee said, comparing it to “being in the academy awards and winning first place against amazing actors.”

Yunker attributes the accomplishments of the program from this year’s ACP awards and years prior to there being “no better opportunity to learn journalism like there is at El Camino.”

Other individual recognition awards for this year’s event include first place for former The Union and Warrior Life staff writer Kim McGill for Design of the Year, in the Informational Graphic category, for “Got weed?,” fifth place for former The Union Editor-in-Chief and Warrior Life social media editor Ma. Gisela Ordenes for Design of the Year, in the Magazine Page/Spread category, for “Faith in Fashion” for Warrior Life.

Multiple staff recognition awards include second place for Best of Show, in the Digital Newsletter (two-year campus) category, second place in the Newspaper/Newsmagazine (two-year campus) category, third place in the Feature Magazine (two-year campus) category, and fifth place for The Union in the Website (two-year campus) category.

Associated Collegiate Press awards
Reporter of the Year – First Place, Erica Lee
Story of the Year: Ernie Pyle Human Interest Profile – Honorable mention, Erica Lee (Baking Bonds and Community)
Story of the Year: In-Depth News Story – Honorable mention, Nikki Yunker (Basic Needs Centers See Record Increase in Demand)
Story of the Year: Editorial – Honorable mention
Design of the Year: Informational graphic – First place, Kim McGill (Got Weed?)
Design of the Year: Magazine Page/Spread – Fifth place, Ma. Gisela Ordenes
Photo of the Year: Environmental portrait – Honorable mention, Eddy Cermeno
Photo of the Year: Feature photo – Honorable mention, Eddy Cermeno
Best of Show: Digital newsletter – Second place, The Union
Best of Show: Newspaper – Second place, The Union
Best of Show: Magazine – Third place, The Union
Best of Show: Website – Fifth place, The Union
Pacemaker finalist, The Union
Pacemaker finalist, Warrior Life

College Media Association awards
Editorials – First place, The Union
Media Website of the Year – Second place, The Union
Sports feature – Honorable mention, Kinzie Malony
Sports game story – Honorable mention, Elsa Rosales
Newsletter – Third place, The Union
Investigative story – Third place, Nikki Yunker
Profile – First place, Erica Lee
Portrait – First place, Eddy Cermeno
Coverage of Diversity – Honorable mention, Angel Pasillas
Coverage of Faith – Third place, Sydney Sakamoto
Arts and entertainment story – Third place, Angela Osorio
Feature photo – Second place, Eddy Cermeno
Feature photo package – Honorable mention, Eddy Cermeno
Feature story – Second place, Erica Lee
Magazine spread – Honorable mention, Ma. Gisela Ordenes
Editorial illustration – Honorable mention, Ada Axenti
Infographic – Third place, Kim McGill
Magazine cover – Third place, Angela Osorio and Eddy Cermeno