Orlando adventure changes us

Former Editor in Chief Braulio Tellez was flying for the first time when we traveled to Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 27 for the Associated Collegiate Press national convention. The few times I looked over at him (in between my loud snoring sessions), he was peering out the window with a child-like curiosity.

"Are we actually above the clouds?!" he said.

Yes we were, in every sense of those words.

Though it was not the first flight for me or current Editor in Chief Elizabeth Webb, metaphorically, it was. All three of us are just scratching the surface in the journalism industry.

Everything is brand new to us, and this convention was our coming of age.

The first day in Orlando was surreal. We rode a trolley to get lunch and randomly met a cool guy named Sam from Youngstown State in Ohio. That afternoon, we got to know each other over Chicago deep dish pizza

After lunch, we split up, and I went to the African-American roundtable. It was truly an enlightening experience. I found other young black journalism majors with lives and goals that mirrored my own.

I spent that time beaming with pride that I was one of two people at the roundtable with a black ribbon attached to my nametag signifying that I was a finalist for the Pacemaker, the most prestigious award in collegiate journalism.

The session went way over the time allotted, so I had to sneak away to meet Braulio and Liz for some dinner and rooting for the Rangers at a restaurant downtown.

However, the next day it was down to business: a full day of workshops from nationally renowned journalists and newspaper advisers.

Though we were used to attending sessions at Texas collegiate conventions, this was different. This was the Woodstock of all conventions – minus the drugs, sex and rock and roll.

We experienced a divine intermingling of young people from across the country who traveled thousands of miles to obtain knowledge from the Jim Morrisons and Jimi Hendrixs of this industry, and to celebrate our youth.

We met snooty Yankee kids and chill kids from Cali. I met a guido from Jersey City and Southern bells from Atlanta who were awestruck to find that A) there were black people in Texas, and B) I wasn't a cowgirl.

There were workshops from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. I listened to professors with PHDs, a former editor in chief for the Associated Press and an adviser for a college newspaper that had won nine Pacemakers.

I now have a sense of direction in my career path and the many possibilities for my future because of this trip. It changed my life and affirmed for me that there is nothing that I would rather do. After a day of learning how to conduct tough interviews, manage a staff properly, write good headlines and turn journalism into a career, there was a night of live blues and good barbecue at B.B. King's with Braulio, then Game 7 of the World Series at Adobe Grill.

Two epic days in Orlando led up to one defining moment.

The next day, in a 9 a.m. session about the Pacemaker award, Liz and our adviser, Lori Dann, saw our Crossfire issue of The Et Cetera in a slideshow  illustrating the criteria needed for a college newspaper to be nominated.

I took that as God giving us a heads up so we wouldn't embarrass Ms. Dann at the convention.

I'm not sure if it worked.

I felt a sense of calm when the winners were being announced — until I saw our newspaper on the projector screen. When the announcer said, "The Et Cetera, Eastfield College, Mesquite Texas," we jumped up and cheered, not thinking about how funny three screams in a sea of people must have sounded. We didn't care.

Fade to black. Roll the credits. We had done it.

From all the times we felt unappreciated to being among the top college papers in the country, this little newspaper has come a long way.

The tie that binds our staff of such polar opposite people is that most of us grew up being tormented, scared to speak.  The Et Cetera has given us a creative outlet from which we all co-exist.

Because of that, these misfit kids grew up to win a national award, and it couldn't have been done without the support of so many people .

Thank you just doesn't suffice for people such as Associate Dean of Arts, Language and Literature Courtney Carter Harbour and Dean Rachel Wolf, who always support us.  And we really appreciate Interim Director of Student Life Judy Schwartz, who gave us the amazing opportunity to go to Orlando.

But we are winners because of a woman named Lori Dann taping our ugly "Welcome to the Et Cetera" banner to her desk a year and a half ago, placing her Obama bobblehead on the shelf in her office, and unpacking — books, sports memorabilia, knowledge and passion. She unpacked it all, and it's now with us.

We send it to you with the Gorillaz on the boom box and a cup of coffee every other Wednesday in the Pit, hoping you take something from it.