nancyxiao Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:47 pmSpeech and Debate Springs into Action....
AHS’s Speech and Debate has been doing amazingly all year; but State Quals (the tournament that Sophomore Amit Akula refers to as “everything that everyone has been working for all year”) looms ever so near. In fact, on Jan. 30, Speech and Debate competed in Spring Varsity, which is generally a good indicator of the outcome State Quals. AHS snatched 18 trophies and another – 2nd place in overall sweepstakes, finally breaking San Marino High School’s year-long winning streak over AHS. Junior Michelle Zhu, the 1st place tournament champion in Oratorical Interpretation, commented, “I’m not as happy for myself as I am for the whole team. It was better to see the whole team finally beat San Marino again!”
For the members of Speech and Debate, their day began at 7:30 a.m. and ended around 10:30 p.m. after the awards ceremony. This tournament was held on our very own campus, and offered the same events as other speech competitions, with styles ranging from Humorous Interpretation, where competitors try to make each other laugh, to Original Advocacy, where competitors write legislation to fix a problem in the United States. There were two preliminary rounds before a semi-finals cut, followed by a finals round for every event. Junior Grace Li broke semi-finals and exclaimed, “I knew I wasn’t going to break semis, but I really hoped I would, and I was ecstatic when the postings came up because I have never broken semis before. I didn’t break finals, but on the bright side, this minor setback will definitely motivate me to work harder to qualify for state and hopefully place.”
Grace’s attitude is precisely the kind of mindset that Junior Jon Ma embodied to place 7th in both Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation. He explained, “…it’s a first for me and I guess it felt cool because I had to compete in eight rounds. I had to drink a lit of water and use the restroom a lot, but my partner, [Sophomore Andy Qin], was a good bud for sticking it in there with me…except the bathroom part.” AHS had two other double finalists – Senior Carl Trigilio and Junior Janna Singer-Baefsky. When asked for advice on how to do well in Speech and Debate, Janna, who placed 4th in Original Advocacy and 6th in Dramatic Interpretation, explained, “It really comes down to practicing and using the critiques and feedback that the team as a whole gives; that really helps you make your speech…We kicked some butt!”
Every so often, a person comes along and places 1st in Fall Varsity and 1st in Spring Varsity, earning an automatic qualification for State Champs. This year, that person is Junior Ray Chao. He competed in Original Advocacy with his speech titled “Saving the World, One Fish at a Time,” which won him the title of tournament champion at both Fall Varsity and Spring Varsity. Despite all of his accomplishments and his multitude of admirers, Ray remains humble and states, “I didn’t expect it and I’m very glad that I had the opportunity to qualify for state, but my achievements are miniscule compared to the Arcadia Speech team in general and I’m very proud; this is one of our strongest groups yet. Everyone at Arcadia deserves to leg to state because we all worked so hard.”
Ray radiates the sense of teamwork and sportsmanship that makes AHS Speech and Debate so special. There’s only one thing that’s guaranteed in this world – AHS Speech and Debate will always come out on top!
AHS’s Speech and Debate has been doing amazingly all year; but State Quals (the tournament that Sophomore Amit Akula refers to as “everything that everyone has been working for all year”) looms ever so near. In fact, on Jan. 30, Speech and Debate competed in Spring Varsity, which is generally a good indicator of the outcome State Quals. AHS snatched 18 trophies and another – 2nd place in overall sweepstakes, finally breaking San Marino High School’s year-long winning streak over AHS. Junior Michelle Zhu, the 1st place tournament champion in Oratorical Interpretation, commented, “I’m not as happy for myself as I am for the whole team. It was better to see the whole team finally beat San Marino again!”
For the members of Speech and Debate, their day began at 7:30 a.m. and ended around 10:30 p.m. after the awards ceremony. This tournament was held on our very own campus, and offered the same events as other speech competitions, with styles ranging from Humorous Interpretation, where competitors try to make each other laugh, to Original Advocacy, where competitors write legislation to fix a problem in the United States. There were two preliminary rounds before a semi-finals cut, followed by a finals round for every event. Junior Grace Li broke semi-finals and exclaimed, “I knew I wasn’t going to break semis, but I really hoped I would, and I was ecstatic when the postings came up because I have never broken semis before. I didn’t break finals, but on the bright side, this minor setback will definitely motivate me to work harder to qualify for state and hopefully place.”
Grace’s attitude is precisely the kind of mindset that Junior Jon Ma embodied to place 7th in both Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation. He explained, “…it’s a first for me and I guess it felt cool because I had to compete in eight rounds. I had to drink a lit of water and use the restroom a lot, but my partner, [Sophomore Andy Qin], was a good bud for sticking it in there with me…except the bathroom part.” AHS had two other double finalists – Senior Carl Trigilio and Junior Janna Singer-Baefsky. When asked for advice on how to do well in Speech and Debate, Janna, who placed 4th in Original Advocacy and 6th in Dramatic Interpretation, explained, “It really comes down to practicing and using the critiques and feedback that the team as a whole gives; that really helps you make your speech…We kicked some butt!”
Every so often, a person comes along and places 1st in Fall Varsity and 1st in Spring Varsity, earning an automatic qualification for State Champs. This year, that person is Junior Ray Chao. He competed in Original Advocacy with his speech titled “Saving the World, One Fish at a Time,” which won him the title of tournament champion at both Fall Varsity and Spring Varsity. Despite all of his accomplishments and his multitude of admirers, Ray remains humble and states, “I didn’t expect it and I’m very glad that I had the opportunity to qualify for state, but my achievements are miniscule compared to the Arcadia Speech team in general and I’m very proud; this is one of our strongest groups yet. Everyone at Arcadia deserves to leg to state because we all worked so hard.”
Ray radiates the sense of teamwork and sportsmanship that makes AHS Speech and Debate so special. There’s only one thing that’s guaranteed in this world – AHS Speech and Debate will always come out on top!