Most people in Brighter Horizons Academy have likely heard of TAPPS. For those who haven’t, TAPPS, or the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, is an organization that oversees athletic, fine arts, and academic competitions between non-public high schools. One of these competitions is the TAPPS Photography Competition, where competitors can submit photos they have taken in specific categories (i.e. Still Life, Experimental/Enhanced, etc.) before a particular deadline. Then, these photos are judged to receive a placement (1st place, 2nd place, honorable mention, and so on) depending on the quality of the photograph. 2025’s photography competition was especially high-stakes. “We had nearly 2,000 entries from 56 member schools this year…” TAPPS says. However, we are proud to say that our students here at BHA have managed to receive awards. The competitors who received awards are as follows:
– Aisha Kadiwala (3rd Place; Landscape/Scenic Photo category)
– Eshaal Abid (Honorable Mention; Landscape/Scenic Photo category)
– Wahaj Uddin (Honorable Mention; Cityscape/Urban Architecture category)
– Nabeeha Aftab (Honorable Mention; Cityscape/Urban Architecture category)
– Yahya Najeeb (2nd Place; Formal Portrait category)
Yahya Najeeb, who competed in the Formal Portrait category, received Second Place in the TAPPS Photography Competition, which was the highest award among BHA students this year. Najeeb has always had a fondness for photography. “Over the past few years, I’ve accumulated [many] good photos. So once I heard about TAPPS, I was immediately hooked.”
Wahaj Uddin’s photo received Honorable Mention, and was in the Cityscape/Urban Architecture category. Uddin’s reasons for joining TAPPS are quite different from Najeeb’s. “I had competed in TAPPS photography last year out of curiosity….although I didn’t place, 2 other members of the school newspaper did,” Uddin says. “Their success at such an [intense] competition inspired me to try again this year…”
Eshaal Abid also received Honorable Mention, her photo being in the Scenic category. “I have never done a photography competition, so I thought it would be fun to try something new,” says Abid. “I competed in Informal, Nature, Scenic, and Still Life. I only won in the Scenic category.”
Ultimately, these three winners felt extremely positive regarding their victory. “Honestly, I [felt] both surprised and relieved. Knowing the fact that TAPPS receives thousands of submissions, I really didn’t know if my entries were up to par,” Uddin says. “I was super surprised about winning. I have no experience with photography so I just submitted some vacation photos I thought looked nice,” Abid says. “I feel great about my victory because I spent a great amount of time taking those photos. I was honestly surprised…I didn’t expect that specific photo I submitted to win…but now…I realized why it got 2nd place,” Najeeb says. When asked if they would ever participate in TAPPS again, the three all responded with a resounding yes.
It’s great to see that more BHA students have made their mark in TAPPS; the sky’s the limit with what we can reach. So take that first step, and don’t be daunted by the challenge. “The most important thing with…competitions like TAPPS is to never give up,” Uddin says.
