Strawberry pickers wait in line to have their boxes inspected and counted at The Parkesdale Farm in Dover, Fla., Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. The pickers are paid $1.50 per cardboard box, with the fastest pickers filling over 100 boxes a day. AUSTIN ANTHONY
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association competitive cheer championships took place on Saturday at Diddle Arena from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. This is the first year KHSAA has hosted the competition, and some of the attendees said they really enjoyed having WKU as the venue. JABIN BOTSFORD
WKU head coach Willie Taggart was doused with the Powerade bucket after WKU’s win over Kentucky. WKU won over UK in overtime 32-31 at Commonwealth Stadium on Sep. 15, 2012. JEFF BROWN
Newly crowned Western Kentucky University Homecoming Queen Amy Winkler laughs as her escort, Madisonville junior Michael Frederick, attempts to fix her crown. Winkler, a senior from Murray, was sponsored by Alpha Delta Pi, Omega Psi Phi and Alpha Tau Omega. BRANDON CARTER
Participants fire off machine guns during the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot on Saturday, April 13, 2013 in West Point, Ky. DOROTHY EDWARDS
Geneva LaDiva gets ready backstage at the Twisted Tap in Bowling Green, Ky. “It roughly takes me about two hours to get ready before I do a show but that is one of the best parts…the makeup.” TYLER ESSARY
Liberian refugee Shirley Bargblor takes a break from bagging leaves with her granddaughter’s Kwametee, 3, and Kwamena, 5, to speak on the phone with a friend. Shirley and her husband Eurodger live with four of their six children as well as two grandchildren in a four bedroom apartment; property of the Public Housing Authority in Bowling Green, Ky. Through different funds and charities, the Bargblor’s pay nothing to rent the apartment. “It is a gift from God,” Shirley said. Both Shirley and Eurodger attend WKU part-time and are on track to receive their business degrees. LUKE FRANKE
Victoria Watts, 18, helps Kate Woodring, 8, bend into a bar stretch for evening ballet practice at Dance Images, a dance studio located in Bowling Green, Ky. Victoria has been a student at dance images since the age of four. Inspired by dance teacher and Dance Images owner, Kathy Wise-Leonard, she now acts as a teacher and mentor to younger dance students.
“I hope to be such an inspirational hero to Kate like Ms.Kathy is to me. Ms. Kathy is one of many heroes in my life. I hope that when Kate grows she’ll think of me like that,” Victoria said. BRITTANY GREESON
Chris Michaels, 40, of Franklin, Ky., considers his life to be “pretty much neck and neck with being a rockstar. It’s all smoke and mirrors and flashing lights, but I try to live that illusion, like I’m surrounded by women and partying all the time. Sometimes though I wish I was normal.” DANNY GUY
A motel fire at the America Inn Motel in Flint was called in at about 10:30 on Saturday evening. Around 50 fire fighters from six departments responded to the scene. Everyone made it out of the motel safely. SAMMY JO HESTER
Mississippi Rebels guard Marshall Henderson, #22, cuts down the net after the semifinals of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Mississippi won 64-52. JOSHUA LINDSEY
Prince Mack plays on the swingset in his grandmother’s backyard in Bakersfield, Calif. His sickle cell anemia prevents him from playing with other children because catching even just a common cold could lead to hospitalization. SHELBY MARIE MACK
Junior guard Brandon Harris screams in frustration after a foul was called on senior guard Jamal Crook, which prevented a fast break opportunity during their victory over Florida International in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship. IAN MAULE
One of the employees hired to scare customers at the Psycho Ward and Nightmares Haunted House in Kalamazoo, Mich. JOSH MAUSER
A man struggles with mental illness. He’s working to lead a more stable life through medication but senses that the medication won’t be enough to reign in his illness. KATIE MCLEAN
Mar Rah waits anxiously for his friends to pick him up for work. He continually casts glances back and forth between the clock and the door after the men are over five minutes late for collecting him. In many ways, the lives of Mar Rah and his family are dependent on others. All the help they receive due to the good deeds of others helps facilitate their lives in order for them to assimilate and function more easily in American society. KATIE MEEK
Nick Slattery gets the Western Kentucky Rugby Team hyped before the game during the Nash Bash 2013. MICHAEL NOBLE
Kaelin Vernon is a farmer’s son. With his dad, he ran a 20,000 cattle operation for a few years, but after a whil the stress of big farming got to him. Vernon left and bought his own five-acre farm in Plano, Kentucky. Their little farm is growing, though in its own way. Vernon has two farmer’s sons of his own, Elijah and Amos. With the help of his wife, Heather, they have grown to 17 sheep and about 200 chickens. They spend most days at home, but still have to work jobs in town to make ends meet. They hope to be able to quit those jobs someday soon and live off their farm. ABBEY OLDHAM
Gloria Akakpo. BRITTANY SOWACKE
Jay Armfield is a Western Kentucky University senior who fought to represent PIKE, his fraternity, in the 8th annual Sigma Chi Fight Night Battle of the Greeks. MORGAN WALKER
Jackson Cofer has completely separated himself from Tina Maria. Tina is a person of the past. Jackson now leads a new life in Lexington, KY with friends and family that support him. ADAM WOLFFBRANDT
Bikers race through the bike course at the UCI Cyclocross Elite World Championships that were held in Louisville, Ky. at Eva Banman Park on Saturday, February 2, 2013. KREABLE YOUNG
Honorable Mentions:
RAE EMARY PEYTON HOBSON REBECCA LUMBRIX SAMANTHA MCGUIGAN ALYSSA POINTER
As you can see, we had a great year in photojournalism at WKU. Thank you to everyone who submitted, and congratulations to everyone for creating these wonderful images and videos. Keep up the good work; we will be updating Through Our Eyes throughout the summer!