On December 14, 2025, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse celebrated as around 700 students received their diplomas during the winter commencement ceremony. Among those graduates was The Racquet Press Photojournalist Trinity Rietmann.
Rietmann graduated with a major in art and minors in photography and recreation management, although it wasn’t always that way. Currently focused on her photography business and her art, Rietmann had the the opportunity to be an art vendor at an art fair this past summer, fueling her passion and drive to create.
“I want to do more vendor fairs for my art, and I want to try and do a solo show at some point, just keep up with my painting and photography,” she said.
Originally seeking a degree in Art Education, she remains passionate about teaching and plans to return to school later down the road to achieve her teaching certificate.
“Ever since I was a kid when they’re like, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I would say, ‘I want to be a teacher!” said Rietmann.
Coming into college being undecided about her major, Rietmann always knew she was passionate about art and photography, pursuing a minor in photography throughout her time at UWL. After taking both recreation management and teaching classes, Rietmann chose the recreation management route, opting to return to school and receive her teaching certificate in the future.
On being a teacher somewhere down the road, Rietmann said, “I ended up coming back to that, ‘Oh I do want to teach!’ That’s what little me said, and that’s what I want to do.”
Despite not taking her first official photography class until her sophomore year of high school, where she learned film photography and the skills needed to be a truly great photographer, Rietmann has always loved photography as an art medium and has been taking pictures as long as she can remember.
“Ever since I was little I had my mom’s little digital camera, that everyone had for family events, and I would take that around with me everywhere, specifically I remember taking it to the zoo and taking pictures of every animal just because I loved taking pictures,” said Rietmann.
During her first year at UWL Rietmann had the opportunity to work with Art and Photography Professor Kate Hawkes through the Eagle Apprentice program. Throughout her time at UWL, Rietmann was able to take nearly all of her photography classes with Professor Hawkes and had the opportunity to travel to Winona to see a show that featured artworks by Professor Hawkes that she had helped work on as a first-year in the Eagle Apprentice program.
“It’s been really cool to have her influence my work and my art through her teaching, but then also to see her work throughout the years too,” said Rietmann. “To see an art professor create something that wasn’t for a class and was just for her and her art practice was really cool and inspiring, because then for me, who wants to be an art teacher, it’s showing me that I can still practice my own art and make the things that I want to make.”
Rietmann first learned about The Racquet through a mass email to the UWL art department, where The Racquet was advertising an opening in their Photojournalist position. Already holding two on-campus jobs, Rietmann applied and was hired for the following semester.
“I did the three on-campus jobs and I loved The Racquet so much, this has been the one I’ve stuck with through to the end, because those other two jobs I wasn’t able to keep,” said Rietmann. “I just fell in love with the journalism aspect of it.”
Through her middle and high school years, Rietmann would write plays for their 4-H club to perform, and reading has always been a large part of her life, remaining a hobby of hers throughout college.
“I was always a creative kid, like artistically and then with the writing too,” said Rietmann.
While most writing during her time at UWL was focused on papers and essays, The Racquet provided a breath of fresh air and offered an opportunity to return the joy to a hobby that been taken over by grades and assignments. “For me it doesn’t feel like a job, for me it’s like writing for something I’m passionate about versus writing for a class,” Rietmann explained.
Coming into The Racquet, Rietmann joined a team of almost entirely new reporters, and loved getting to meet everyone and be a part of the community that formed and reshaped itself year after year. She recounted the jokes and laughter that fill each weekly meeting and expressed how much she enjoyed being a part of a community that loves their job and enjoys the work they do so much.
“It’s just such a fun and positive community,” she said, “people leave and new people come in, but the people have been amazing.”
Rietmann’s first article covered the Mrs. Oktoberfest Reception held at the UWL Student Union, where she sat and asked questions alongside reporters from local newspapers and TV stations, a unique scenario for Racquet reporters who usually conduct one-on-one interviews. Even with her nerves, Rietmann spoke highly of the other reporters who attended the event and said they were were welcoming and excited to see someone just getting into the field.
“I was like ‘All these other reporters are here that do this for actual work and this is my first story.’ But I was prepared with my questions that I was going to ask, and even though I was really nervous it was really cool to have that experience and see how other people ask questions and what questions they ask,” she said.
Being the Photojournalist for The Racquet also provided Rietmann with the opportunity to continue to develop her skills as a photographer outside of the classroom. Being assigned a new article every week offered her a chance to continually practice and improve her photography in a way that the classroom can’t exactly replicate.
“It’s a different type of photography that I hadn’t really done before. I had done portraits… and I still do that,” said Rietmann. “Versus the photojournalism, a lot of that is trying to catch things as they happen… You’re catching the truth and the reality of what’s going on.”
During her time with The Racquet, Rietmann particularly enjoyed covering events and visiting businesses around the La Crosse area, and paying a visit to The Hatchery was one of her favorites. “That was such a fun place to go to, it had such cool architecture and decorations,” she said, while her more difficult shoots involved trying to tell a story through her photos.
Rietmann spoke on her process, saying, “I have to dig deep and kinda figure out, ‘How do I visualize this through photos?’ Versus just showing up to an event or a business.”
One of the biggest things Rietmann took away from The Racquet was the ability to talk to people she does not know, just walking up to someone and having a conversation. Having the confidence to just approach somebody, introduce yourself and ask for an interview has been something The Racquet gave her the opportunity to learn.
“Before joining The Racquet, that was something I was absolutely terrified of doing, whereas now I’ve just gotten more comfortable and confident. It still makes me nervous every time, but it’s been really cool to see myself grow in that,” said Rietmann.
Rietmann spoke about how the writing skills she practiced with The Racquet are carrying over into other areas of her life, helping with essays for school and even carrying into her passion for art and photography. Being able to write and speak well, and confidently, are key in obtaining grants and drafting proposals for new art installations or murals, something she wants to pursue in the future.
When asked about her favorite article from her time with The Racquet, Rietmann brought up her Campus then and now article, in which she compared and contrasted photos of buildings from UWL’s past and what they look like today. The article has been among The Racquet’s most popular, consistently being in the top ten most read articles of the week since its publication.
“That one was really fun to do,” said Rietmann. “I love history, which is something that, other than art history, I don’t get to learn a lot about. So being able to dive into the history of campus and the buildings and visit the archives and find all of these old photos… and being able to combine all of that into the article was really cool.”
The thing that stuck with Rietmann the most about her time in The Racquet was a feeling of being welcome, both in the weekly meetings and at events throughout the community. She shared her experience of people typically welcoming the press and the publicity that a Racquet article can bring to their business.
When asked if she has any advice for future Racquet members, Rietmann said, “Just go for it! Sometimes it is scary to go out there and ask questions or interview people and take pictures… but you’re out there doing your job and doing what you love, and it’s a really fun time!”
