Ten Moorpark College students took home 11 awards after spending the first three days of their spring break at the state convention for the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, JACC, in Burbank.

The students attended lectures and competed in timed competitions where they had to write articles or take photos based on assigned topics.

“The conference gave me access to so much new information,” said Evan Reinhardt, a 19-year-old Journalism major. “But more than that, it gave me the opportunity to create connections with great people who have the same goals as I do.”

Around 500 students from community colleges all over California gathered to improve their skills and compete in contests for news photos, feature articles, opinion pieces, video stories, and more. Reinhardt himself took home an honorable mention for his news photo submission. Moorpark College students won 10 additional awards and Darya Abbassi, a 20-year-old Journalism major, received a transfer scholarship from JACC.

Abbassi will be transferring to University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the fall with a concentration in broadcast journalism. Her time at the competition was nothing short of beneficial for her future career, she said.

She competed in the critical review and team feature competitions where she wrote articles under the pressure of a time limit. Additionally, for the team feature, she was dropped off in Magnolia Park in Burbank and had to write a story on a topic that her and her teammate found the most intriguing.

“I got to experience how to be a real journalist and get put on the spot in a timely manner,” said Abbassi.

While the time crunches were stressful, it did not stop 20-year-old Political Science major Martín Bilbao and 22-year-old Journalism major Dallas Vorburger from completing a video story about a horror themed shop in Magnolia Park that earned them an honorable mention.

James Schaap, a 22-year-old History major, received high accolades for his photography skills. He earned the bulk of awards for Moorpark at JACC. Just to name a few, he won first place for his sports feature photo, second place for his feature photo and an honorable mention for another sports feature photo.

Schaap said that the honorable mention sports feature photo turned into the most interesting contest that he participated in. While they were originally supposed to photograph horse racing, the weather compromised the competition, and they were sent to a baseball game at Citrus College in Glendora, Calif. instead.

Although he forgot his long lens in the hotel room to take photos, he said he still enjoyed himself and was able to get a good shot.

“I met some great people on the bus ride over to the college, and it just felt like we were a tight-knit community of photojournalists on an adventure,” said Schaap.

The Moorpark students agreed that this sense of camaraderie and eagerness for learning was mutual among them.

“JACC is such a great opportunity to meet professionals in the field,” said Vorburger. “My favorite part is making friends and sharing the learning experience with others.”

Student Voice brings home awards #JACCState2018 @JACC_Conference pic.twitter.com/ECJTDc8iyh

— Moorpark Reporter (@MoorparkReport) March 27, 2018