After only being part of the Wildcat Chronicle staff for a year, senior sports editor and photographer Theresa Carriveau received a superior rating for photography at a national scholastic journalism competition in Seattle, Washington.

Carriveau, along with editor in chief Emily Wissemes and reporter Hector Cervantes, packed their bags for Seattle for the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association convention April 6 – 9.

Carriveau received a superior rating for first-year photography. Wissemes competed in editorial writing and Cervantes competed in feature writing. Neither placed.

“The first year photography competition seemed perfect. All the description said was that it needed to be the competitor’s first year in a journalistic type publication and I fit that description,” Carriveau said. “My adviser told us to play to our strength and enter a category we thought we could win. I guess I did a pretty good job.”

She submitted a silhouette photo of senior Kori King doing a turn on a bold red backdrop, taken at the dance production showcase on Jan. 19. 

Photo by Theresa Carriveau

“The night before the real performance I went to the dress rehearsal to take practice pictures. Going the night before allowed me to know what the dances were going to look like ahead of time so when I went back the next day I knew exactly what I wanted to take,” Carriveau said.

Once in Seattle, a critique session took place where judges gave tips on randomly selected photos that were entered. They asked who took the photo and the photographer would stand, share a little about the image and then get critiques.

“My photo was one of the last photos to be shown on the screen. I was really nervous when I saw my photo because for the past hour and a half the judges had been picking apart images I thought were stunning,” Carriveau said.

Carriveau recounted the moment the judges began discussing her photo.

“The first thing the judge said when my picture came up was ‘these photos are hard to take,’ and I was fully ready for it to be picked apart. But then she said ‘And I don’t know if I could have done better myself,'” Carriveau said. “I was shocked.”

The judge commented on the excellent attention to detail with the ponytail flying and the position of the hand. Carriveau was asked to stand and explain the photo.

“I told the entire room, of over 200 people, how I went about it. The judges were so impressed that I went to take practice shots the day before. One judge even tweeted about me. After I had sat down, two other judges came over to tell me what a great image it was and one asked for my contact information. The whole experience was pretty surreal,” Carriveau said.

Carriveau grew up interested in photography because of her dad.

“He is the photographer at Elgin Community College. It’s nice to have him around because he was my teacher but also someone to ask questions at any time,” Carriveau said.

She received her first camera freshman year while taking the photography at school but did not become serious about photography until her sophomore year.

“My first competitions were the 2015 SkillsUSA Illinois State Leadership and Skills Conference. I introduced two photo boards one for black and white film and one for digital. I got first place in black and white film, and I was hooked,” Carriveau said. “I entered the same contests plus a color film board the following year at the same conference. I got first in black and white again and first in color film and third in digital.”

Her goal is to participate and win in all three competitions this year as well.

“Getting a superior rating feels amazing. It pretty incredible to be able to say that I’m a national award winning photographer,” Carriveau said.

Because of the return flight time, the staff was not able to attend the award ceremony, so Carriveau does not have her medal yet.

“I’m anxiously waiting for it to come in the mail because it still doesn’t seem real to me that I won such a high honor,” Carriveau said.