By Tessa Faust
According to Chapman University Survey on American Fears Americans fear public speaking more than anything else. That might make Lincoln High’s speech team some of the bravest people in the world to some. They go to practices where they write their speech and go to tournaments where they are judged on it. Some people dread and shutter the thought of public speaking but others excel at it.
“Lilia did really good she’s going to NIETOC which is a really big thing” said freshman Che Rodrigues. NIETOC is National Individual Events Tournament of Champions. Lilia Fromm made it because she placed high enough from two events at two different tournaments. She is the only one from Lincoln High to make it. “I don’t know how I’ll do because I don’t know how it will go but I’m excited to be there as a freshman” said freshmen Lilia Fromm.
She isn’t the only one doing good though. Lincoln High’s speech team has had a great season this year. “I think it went really well both personally and as a team because only three years ago there were only three people on the team and this year we have really good people and we have national qualifiers so that was pretty great” said junior and co captain Caleb Martin. “I was really impressed with all the freshmen and how seriously they took speech. I wasn’t sure if everyone was going to be serious because some people just drop but I was really proud of the team as a whole” said Junior and co captain Monica Starr.
Speech isn’t just all work and no play. During downtime at tournaments they like to socialize and play games. “I think my favorite part was bonding during tournaments so we’d always play card games or play a game called catchphrase so those activities probably just getting to know each other were probably my favorite parts” said Martin. The coaches and the team vote on awards to give out at the speech banquet. “I won the Miss congeniality award because I’m so fabulous and because I keep it together and I keep it real. I also won the team leader award because I stepped up in my role as co captain with Caleb” said Starr. “Mine was best procrastinator because I always put off practice times” said Martin.
The team is always eager to take in new members. They start to practice at the beginning of the year but the tournaments usually don’t start till around December. “I think speech is a great activity and you gain valuable skills because you’ll probably be standing in front of people for the rest of your life so the skills you gain are really important. Its just a really good time and especially in the coming years we’ll have a really successful team” said Martin. “You should join there are a lot of different events so you can really find something you like and really anyone can. Its chill we are not competitive but we work really hard” said Che Rodriguez. He went on to add. “You’ll get to spend a lot of time with me and that’s always a bonus.”
