Ayala, Salinas win first place photo contest

CFFA sponsored event

Texas A&M University Kingsville (TAMUK) Collegiate FFA (CFFA) hosted a photography contest for the month of February. The contest was hosted to promote the club across campus as it is new to TAMUK. There were two winners for both categories and were awarded a prize. First place received a Yeti Tumbler, and second place received a $25 Visa Mastercard. The winners were announced Monday, Feb. 28.

“This organization is new and is upstarting. With this contest I wanted to give the opportunity to our members to come out and express their creativity and artistry, because I knew that many of our members were good at photography. More so, I wanted them to feel comfortable to voice their opinions about anything within this organization and so the members can gain comfortability with this new organization,” CFFA President Justin Trevino said.

This was the first year the Collegiate FFA hosted a photography contest. There were two categories: Flora which was any kind of plant life, and Fauna which was any kind of animal life. There were seven participants who submitted numerous photos to fit the two categories and 12 photos at the end of the meeting were voted on. Members in attendance voted during the meeting and winners were announced.

Winners for the two categories were: Carolina Salinas who received first place for Flora and second place for Fauna, Kylie Diaz who won second place for Flora and Raelynn Ayala who received first place for Fauna.

“I enjoy taking photos as a hobby, so I figured why not try out the contest. Advice I would give to someone else who would like to participate would be to have fun. It was fun looking for scenes to capture that I thought my peers would like,” Diaz said.

TAMUK CFFA encourages and recognizes members for their accomplishments in unselfish service and devotion to the organization and the Kingsville community.

“The reason I decided to enter the contest was because I wanted to be more involved within the school and also because my grandfather wanted to show off his beautiful Brahman that he has there at the ranch he works at,” Ayala said.

For more information about the club, follow them on Instagram @tamukcffa and Facebook @Tamuk Collegiate FFA. Contact their club advisor, Dr. Mark Hainline via email at mark.hainline@tamuk.edu. Their next meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday March 28 in Kleberg Ag Building, Room 102. Stay informed about upcoming events via their social media accounts.