Cy Woods High School Senior Named Finalist in NSPA Feature Photo of the Year Contest
By Addison Loveless, Cypress Woods High School (A High School Journalism Network Collaboration)
Click, click, click. Her finger presses the shutter button without an idea of where the masterpiece she will create will take her.
Cypress Woods High School senior Sophia Puzon was named a finalist in the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) Feature Photo of the Year Contest. She is the only CFISD student to be named a finalist this year and the first from Cypress Woods since 2013.
“I was really beating down on myself because I felt like I hadn’t gotten a lot of good photos throughout this season,” Puzon said. “I really wanted to take the opportunity to take as many photos as I could, even if my SD card was full.”
Puzon’s goal was to first capture the student section being hyped up by the drumline performance. She then switched her angle towards the drumline and captured the photo.
A few weeks ago, Puzon learned about being named a finalist. She remembers taking a nap and hearing her phone ringing. She picked up the phone and received the news.
“Ms. Negri shouts over the phone that I am a national finalist for a photo competition,” Puzon said. “I said, ‘Great, can I go back to sleep now?’”
After she got her beauty sleep, she then understood the honor. She couldn’t believe how she made the top ten out of thousands of other photographers’ photos. More specifically, she couldn’t believe she won out of the other talented photographers at Cypress Woods alone. Schools can only submit two entries per category.
“There are infinitely more talented people at Cy Woods who I think would have been amazing and make the cut with far better photos of the competition,” Puzon said.
Now, Puzon waits and looks forward to where the designation will take her. She plans to study journalism in college. Final awards will be named at the NSPA Awards Ceremony on November 21.
“I’m really looking forward to November for those results to come out,” Puzon said. “Even if I just get an honorary mention, it’s something I would be very proud of.”
Editor's Note: This article was written by Addison Loveless, a student at Cypress Woods High School in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, through a partnership between My Neighborhood News and the District as part of an established high school journalism network collaboration. My Neighborhood News is a proud supporter of local youth and warmly welcomes the opportunity to provide a platform for students to share their work.
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