Oak Creek Native, Navy Photographer Receives Navy Award

Oak Creek WI

04 November, 2021

11:58 AM

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OAK CREEK, WI — An Oak Creek native and High School alum who has since joined the U.S. Navy recently won the Navy's Junior Sailor of the Quarter award, a report from the Navy's Outreach Office said. Petty Officer 2nd Class Chelsea Meiller earned the award while serving with Commander Naval Air Forces Pacific, the report shows. Meiller joined the Navy seven years ago, two years after her 2012 graduation from Oak Creek High School, and she is now a communications specialist and photojournalist for the Navy, the report said. "I love being a military photojournalist because I get to tell the stories of my fellow service members and the work that they do," Meiller said in the Navy's report. "Telling the Navy's story to the world is incredibly challenging, but so rewarding." Part of Meiller's success in the Navy as a photographer stems from her experience at a military photojournalism program at Syracuse University. In the Navy's report, Meiller said her completion of the program is an accomplishment she is most proud of. "It is a yearlong program held at Syracuse University that consists of graduate-level photojournalism and storytelling classes," Meiller said in the Navy report. "It is prestigious to be among the few each year that are accepted to attend and was one of the most fulfilling years of my career." Meiller has since taken photos in nine different countries across the world, her Syracuse University biography shows. Meiller's stories from her time at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse range from stories of composting to the career journey of a hairstylist. One of Meiller's projects posted to her Syracuse biography is about an 86-year-old woman who works with metal and creates art: In the Navy's report, Meiller reflected on her time in Oak Creek and her childhood there. She said the support she has back home has been one of her biggest motivators during her Navy service. "I grew up in a close-knit family, their love and guidance is something I carry with me to this day and use as fuel to get through whatever tough situation might come my way," Meiller said in the Navy's report.