Ten working college journalists stood at a gas station somewhere near Macon, Ga., Sunday when The News’ editorial adviser Lola Burnham shouted to everyone that The Warbler yearbook placed first in its Best of Show category and The News second in its.

Screams, hugs and high fives followed.

Our student publications earned a big gold star this weekend from the Associated Collegiate Press in winning those two awards at the National College Media Convention in Orlando, Fla. All 10 of us, and our advisers, were so stoked to have won the awards that it brightened up the rest of the 15-hour drive. Winning will also brighten up the rest of the semester, knowing we’ve been recognized by one of the most important collegiate press organizations in the nation.

The Warbler and The News were matched up against student newspapers from around the country and proved to be worthy of high honors. It’s especially exciting after having met students from schools in Florida, California, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, and elsewhere, knowing our student publications were better than all of theirs.

The Warbler reigned over all yearbooks less than 300 pages. Included in this category were Miami University in Ohio, Missouri Western State University, Oral Roberts University, and many others.

The News won over Texas Christian University, while Louisiana State University took first place. Louisiana State enrolls about 26,000 students according to its website, while Texas Christian enrolls about 9,000 according to its.

Miami University in Ohio enrolls about 21,000 total students on all of its campuses according to its website, while Missouri Western State enrolls about 6,000 according to its.

These are the types of schools we were up against this weekend, and we accomplished a lot by bringing home the awards we did. It’s not every day a national organization recognizes little Eastern for its great success in journalism, which is why this is so special.

Both the newspaper and the yearbook work tirelessly every day to meet deadline, no matter how many times they are published in a year or when their deadlines are, and we are ecstatic to have been recognized along with the school.

It’s gratifying to know that judges from all around the nation appreciate the work we do. It’s fine to be recognized with an ‘A’ on a test or an essay, but for us especially it’s a whole other feeling to be recognized by a group of our fellow journalists. It ought to be a point of pride for Eastern to know it has successful, well-respected student publications on its campus.

I want to commend everyone who works for me, and who works for Kristin Jording, The Warbler editor, for all of the great work they do day in and day out.

From this point on we will move forward, working endlessly to provide our civil service as journalists, knowing that we work for respected, nationally renowned publications.

Alex McNamee is a junior journalism major.