Several Southeastern students  majoring in communication showed off their journalism skills when they traveled to Lafayette to compete with against over 30 other colleges from the southeast region.
Southeastern students and staff attended the Southeast Journalism Conference Feb. 20 through Feb. 22. SEJC is an annual college journalism conference that hosts students from 36 universities at a different location each year.
This year the University of Louisiana at Lafayette chose the theme “And the Beats Go On.” The conference highlighted how traditional beats in journalism will continue through the digital age. The conference included speakers who are experts in their beats. Sessions at SEJC 2014 included panel discussions on crime, health, politics, entertainment, photography and sports.
Throughout the conference, students were given the opportunity to network with student journalists from different universities, meet with potential employers and show off their skills through several competitions.  
Two types of competitions are held each year for students who attend the conference. Competitions include pre-submitted work through the Best of the South contest in categories including Best News Writer, Best Multimedia Journalist, Best Press Photographer and more. The SEJC Best of the South contest is used as a competition and also as a teaching tool since the judges give critiques on the submitted work.
Many Southeastern students placed in the Best of the South competition. Matthew Doyle placed first in Best Radio Hard News Reporter. Valerie Ponseti placed first in Best Television Journalist. Erika Ferrando placed second in Best Television Hard News Reporter. Catherine Monica placed second in Best Journalism Research Paper. Christopher Martin placed eighth in Best Press Photographer and sixth in Best News Page Layout Designer.
“My plans are to just keep on moving and try to improve on all of my weaknesses,” said Ponseti, first place winner of Best Television Journalist, who plans to take the judges’ advice into consideration in her future work.  “It’s just a great experience.”
Southeastern placed first in Best College Video News Program for Northshore News, first in Best College Radio Station for KSLU and first in Best College Television Station for the Southeastern Channel.
“We just feel very blessed and very grateful, and we thank the Lord for it,” said Rick Settoon, general manager of the Southeastern Channel.  “A lot of hard work by a lot of talented people went into this, and it’s very humbling.  I really commend our staff and our students.  They really worked hard, and they have a high quality standard they try to live up to.  Every production, every story, every newscast, they do a tremendous job.”
The opportunities offered through the various journalism programs at Southeastern greatly impacts the skills and experience of Southeastern’s students.  The chance to excel in various fields of communication is available on campus.
“We turn out the top quality products, not only in newscast, but in documentaries, commercials, films. We don’t only have regional award winners, but national award winners,” said Settoon about Southeastern’s journalism programs. “Prospective students see that they can really train well and come to be the best they can be. They’ll be able to produce top quality products. We offer a variety; it’s not just news. For those who are interested in films and movies, commercials, or those who are interested in just shooting, editing, directing, behind the camera, they can get that great training here.”
Southeastern students’ superior skills were highlighted by the many awards the group brought home from the  Best of the South and Onsite competitions.
The onsite section tested the students’ skills through production of stories, layouts, video, photography and online tests with strict deadline and restriction from prior preparation.
The Onsite competition winners from Southeastern included Sara Patrick, who placed first in Entertainment Writing, Santiago Rodriguez, who placed second in Radio News Reporting, and Christopher Martin, who placed second in Sports Photography.
Last year Southeastern took first place overall for conference Onsite Championship Team, and this year Southeastern tied for second overall in the Onsite Championship Team category.