The holy grail of all journalism events for community college students in California took place in Los Angeles, and not one student went home empty-handed.

The Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) held the 2006 California Convention. It was held at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles, CA, spanning March 30 to April 1.

The convention itself is a Swiss-army knife, providing journalists with the basic tools and necessities that they will need once they begin their careers at a professional newspaper, or any other related field. The convention is attended by a wide array of different community colleges throughout Southern and Northern California, bringing along tons of eager students willing to learn.

The entire convention was a success, providing a plethora of workshops covering many different aspects of journalism, such as blogging, sports writing, and how to get along with your peers in the newsroom. Besides the workshops, there were many different contests held during the convention, both mail-in and on-the-spot, ranging from headline writing, copyediting, and sports photo.

Staff members of The Skyline View, both current and former, left the convention with numerous awards. Mail-in awards went to Neill Herbert, who won second place for photo essay, Vikki Nguyen won an honorable mention for profile feature, and Derrick Sanchez won fourth place for news feature.

As for on-the-spot awards, News Editor John Harrison won second place for editorial cartoon, and Business and Circulation Manager Jonathan Jay Lando Dipratna won an honorable mention for opinion writing. Along with their individual awards, the staff also won General Excellence for the online edition of the paper, which is special, because everyone had a hand in it.

Overall, the convention was a smash and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that cannot be matched. Not everyone went back home with an award in their hand, but they all came back with a newfound level of intelligence, respect and honor.