Ashonti Shaw, assistant university news editor for The Hornet Tribune, earned a second place finish in the Southeast Journalism Conference’s (SEJC) Opinion Writing On-Site Competition held on the campus of Troy University.
The conference, a three-day event held Feb. 23-25, attracted 22 of the 31 college and university newspaper and magazine staffs from across the Southeast region to listen to noted professional journalists who work in the field of communications and journalism.
“My experience at the SEJC conference overall was great,” Shaw said. “I honestly had a lot of fun. It was like a nice bonding moment for The Hornet Tribune staff members. It was a great learning experience. I was challenged in ways I have never been challenged before. However, I had a great time.”
Prior to the conference, Shaw was not sure what she would be doing, and in no way had she prepared for a competition.
“I had no idea what I was getting into,” she said. “All Mr. Dean told me was that we were going to be in an on-site competition, and I was just like, ‘oh, okay.’ I had little time to prepare. I was supposed to have two hours to complete my opinion writing, but I only had one, so that was a setback for me.”
Shaw also entered the competition late, which initially made walking in a little intimidating.
“Everybody was already working when I arrived,” Shaw said. “So everybody’s turning around, looking at me. I was like, ‘oh.’ And then, I was the only Black face in the room, which kind of made me feel intimidated, but it pushed me to do better, pushed me to do my best.”
Despite the late start, Shaw still secured second place, and she was confident in her ability to perform well.
“I was honestly very confident,” Shaw said. “I wanted to attend the conference on Sunday to receive my award because I just had a feeling I won something. I wasn’t expecting first, but I was expecting something. But I was really confident in my work. I felt like I was one of the very few who was on the other side of the opinion of the topic.”
The given topic to the opinion writers was the matter concerning the recent Supreme Court ruling in Alabama concerning frozen embryos.
Shaw was not able to attend the final day of the conference, so she was not able to pick up her prize herself, but she was still proud of herself upon hearing the news of her win.
“I was glad that my team members didn’t make a blank trip for no reason that morning. It was a great feeling,” Shaw said. “SEJC was great. I would definitely come back again. I wouldn’t do anything differently. One thing I would love to have was more time, but other than that, the adversities always make me push harder and do my best. It was a great experience for myself and the rest of the Tribune staff.”
Kenneth Dean, J.D., general manager of The Hornet Tribune was not at all surprised that Shaw placed.
“In that particular category, you can only win first, second or third place,” he said. “I knew that she had the ability to win first place because she is a gifted writer who pays very close attention to detail. So it did not surprise me that she placed. And to be honest, I wanted the students to know as less as possible about the on-site competitions so that they would not be nervous and give it their best shots.”
Dean continued.
“Those on-site competitions really measure how great of a writer that you really are as you have only a few minutes to sit down and structure your article and convey your thoughts in a way that the reader will benefit most.’