Celebrating their accomplishments, members of CAF&DM and its respective publications attended an annual banquet held at Renaissance Ballrooms on May 23. Upon their arrival, students anxiously waited for the event to officially begin and were greeted by masquerade style decor and uplifting music.

Students spent their time in anticipation, rushing to take photos with their peers and admiring the detailed ballroom. Publications took turns being photographed as an entire group and the photo booth later branched off to friends wanting to commemorate the fun of the day. Once time had passed, everyone found their chair and turned their attention to the ceremonial portion of the event. The hosts, Amanda Lopez and Melanie Elguezebal, introduced the reasons for the day’s event and then left the floor to Ms. Zuniga, lead teacher of the CAF&DM department. Ms. Zuniga spoke of the department and its responsibilities as the audience listened intently while enjoying their banquet-style lunch.

“At first I was nervous to be the hostess of the event especially since it was my first year being in charge of the banquet and I had to speak in front of all the CAF&DM students as well as our teachers. I then realized that there was nothing to be nervous about because everyone in attendance was either a friend or a familiar face,” sophomore Melanie Elguezabal said.

As the meal came to an end, awards were presented to a select few in attendance. Each publication presented awards to its staff and editorial board and the award for the top CAF&DM student was presented to Nicole Juarez. The presentation of awards ended with each current editor-in-chief presenting a clock to their successor, a tradition observed because the clock serves as a representation of the time and effort each editor-in-chief must exude to ensure the success of the publication.

“That moment when the clocks were presented made me somewhat nostalgic. I mean I joined the staff when I was a sophomore as a photographer and now I’m fulfilling the leader’s role. Rather than honoring a new editor-in-chief, it’s more a commencement or an initiation. I think the true honor for an editor-in-chief is in the postseason when all the volumes are published and they receive the staff picture at the banquet,” junior Virgil Alfred said.

What followed the closing of the ceremony was a dance party that included members of every publication. In between dancing to music spanning across several genres and embracing every photo-op at the booth, students got to know members of the other publications and celebrate each other’s success.