Pep O’ Plant and Yearbook students visited USF Oct. 9 for the yearly Florida Scholastic Press Association. Students got the chance to engage in seminars led by journalists from around the nation and learn new skills regarding different aspects of journalism. All schools competed in different contests that every student put lots of thought and hard effort into, and Plant is lucky to have some of our own winners! Here’s a look at what they had to say regards to winning:

Gianna Cacciatore (Yearbook/PO’P, Senior): I was in the contest for best photo page. I had to design one with a back to school theme.

Katie DeGeorge (Yearbook, Sophomore): I won first place in the on the spot poetry contest, there were probably 30 to 40 contestants.

Carson Collins (Yearbook, Senior): We won the yearbook on the spot layout competition.

Marjorie Fitzimmons, Darnell Henderson, Zoie Ashmeade (PO’P, Junior): We won 2nd place for our ThingLink entry, which is an interactive website which really engages the viewer with the visuals.
Bennett Taylor (PO’P, Senior): I got second in the deadline review writing competition.

How did it feel to win?

Gianna: I mean it felt pretty good to get second. There are some things I could have done better, but overall it was a well designed page. Winning always feels pretty good though, you know?

Katie: It felt really good to win and even better to know that the person who judged my poem was actually a nationally recognized poet himself.

Carson: It felt so rewarding because we have never really competed before, so being able to compete for only the second time and win was amazing!
Marjorie, Darnell, Zoie: Validation was certainly what we felt, knowing that we, as a group, could complete a task that provided many challenges and really pushed us to break past our comfort zones.

Bennett: I felt a little disappointed coming in second, but I was proud of the piece I wrote.

Did you expect to win?

Gianna: I really didn’t know what to expect if I’m being completely honest. I was pretty nervous the entire day because I wanted to win. So I guess my nervousness obviously says that I didn’t expect it. I was just happy to place in anything!

Katie: I wasn’t really sure what the outcome would be. I won several contests before, including a national one in elementary school, but I didn’t know what the competition would be like, it was my first FSPA.

Carson: I was hoping we would! We had won a bunch of competitions at a workshop over the summer and won so we went in pretty confident. It’s always nerve wracking to put out all of your hard work to be judged but it’s really paid off so far!

Marjorie, Darnell, Zoie: Anything could’ve happened; we personally thought that we definitely had the potential to win, but we were uncertain of whether or not we would win.

Bennett: I never expect to win. I put my best effort into it and respect the decision made.