MC Student Named Photography Annual Finalist
Competing with more than 4,000 students from the United States, Canada and other nations, Hays landed a much-coveted spot in the upcoming "Best of College Photography Annual 2008."
A 20-year-old MC junior from Tutwiler and graphic design major, Hays said she's surprised to be a finalist in the annual photography contest co-sponsored by Nikon.
"I am grateful to Mississippi College for providing the opportunity for me to expand my photography skills," she said. "I consider it an honor to have been selected as a finalist in the top 5 percent of all entries selected worldwide and to have my photography work published," in the book, Hays added.
Hays is making plans to pursue a career as a graphic designer who works with publications, advertising, design and marketing companies.
The MC undergraduate isn't only passionate about clicking off hundreds of photos. At the Christian university, she's an excellent student with a 3.8 grade point average, good enough to regularly make the Dean's List. The Tallahatchie County resident is also active with the Alumni Phi Theta Kappa Association. A senator in MC's Student Government Association, Hays plans to graduate from Mississippi College in 2009.
Getting the MC student's work highlighted in the California-based publication distributed to college libraries and going to instructors of photography, art and graphic design is an extraordinary achievement, said Steve Cook. an art professor on the Clinton campus.
"This speaks very well of Anna's talent as a photographer, and of our photography classes at Mississippi College," Cook said. "We have had several other students reach this level over the years." About four or five students from MC were selected to have their work appear in the publication over the last two decades.
Hays is among 200 finalists out of thousands of entries this year, he noted.
Copies of the book should be published in mid-June. Picking the finalists is a team of judges comprising professional photographers and college instructors. Some of the top collegiate photographers selected will be entered into Nikon's Emerging Photographers Hall of Fame. This year, the contest opened up to online submissions along with traditional prints and slides.
Officials connected with the 28th annual College Photography Contest say they simply were overwhelmed by the response of the student photographers.
For more information on the photography contest, contact MC art professor Steve Cook at 601-925-3452 or scook@mc.edu
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