By Rayaan Hood, Puma Press Reporter 

After yet another long day of performing her speech, sophomore Zoe M. is tired. The day is March 1, approximately 9:30 p.m., and she is sitting amongst the rest of the Speech and Debate Team, everyone refreshing their emails every few seconds to find out whether they qualified for nationals. At the very moment it’s revealed that she not only qualifies but ranks first among hundreds of students, an electric celebration fills the room.

Speech is a mostly individual competition where competitors must perform about a given topic, whereas debate is a team competition focused on convincing a panel of judges.

“They are completely different goals, and they’re completely different types of personalities that do either one,” Speech and Debate Coach Grace Olayinka said.

Zoe competes in the original oratory category, where she prepares a 10-minute speech about the given topic, in this case, a societal issue. Judges score her based on the content, effectiveness, and delivery of her speech.

As for Zoe’s personal journey to her own speech, it started in May of last year with her initial idea. She credits the original idea for the speech to her cousin after a lighthearted conversation about their shared multiracial identity.

“She told me that her favorite bar game was ‘guess my race,’” Zoe said.

The speech discusses how people view each other’s identity as boxes to check, rather than as humans. Zoe seeks to make people uncomfortable with her speech.

“It’s a reflection. It’s almost like holding up a mirror for everybody to see, and then if you don’t like what you see, you can do something about it,” Grace said.

Zoe helped create the speech aspect of Speech and Debate Club after proposing it to Debate Club leaders last year.

“I wanted to start with speech too. So I said, ‘Can I be the speech captain?’ And I wrote why I wanted to be it,” Mirchandani said.

As a first-year speech competitor, Zoe admits that the competition was daunting.

“They’re super synchronized. They have all these movements down,” Zoe said. “It’s actually a little frightening. I was very intimidated.”

Zoe admits that ranking first wasn’t easy. From the beginning, she faced challenges with performing her original oratory both internally and externally.

“I think I just have a lot of self-doubt. So, I always think I’m going to lose things, even if I am doing better than I think I am,” Zoe said.

Zoe is not just a competitor. Speech teammate and ninth grader Jaya J. recalls Zoe helping her teammates with their own speeches.

“This is my first time doing speech. She’s really helpful with helping me come up with ideas,” Jaya said.

Zoe plans to continue her journey to nationals in June in Des Moines, Iowa, but it will not be easy. She hopes to continue to edit her speech in preparation.

“I want to make my solutions a lot more clear, and I think I want to make it a little bit more timely,” Zoe said.

A Q&A WITH THE PUMA PRESS REPORTER RAYAAN H., 11TH GRADE 

How did you come up with this story idea?

It was initially pitched by one of my classmates. When we are picking out stories to write, people can chose a certain story and you get first pick on it if you pitched it. But I like holding back and waiting for when there are a few left or even being assigned pieces because I like trying new things.

What surprised you while working on this article?

I was honestly surprised by how debate and speech were different. I was also surprised by the content of Zoe’s speech. I was able to read it. It had a lot of depth to it, and it was something I thought a lot of people needed to hear.

What did you learn while working on this piece?

How important it is to vocalize the community and people who are not heard as much and to celebrate our accomplishments. That’s essentially what journalism is all about. The purpose is to amplify people who aren’t heard as much. That’s what community is—it’s not just the principal voices, but the entire community, including our own peers.

What are your takeaway learnings from Journalism class this year?

I’ve learned so much. it’s impossible for me to say in one or two sentences. Probably the importance of support around you. Although I was the only name on the article as the author, I had so many people supporting me: [Journalism Teacher] Scott, the editors-in-chief, the people working on the web, the people working on the graphics. It’s not a one- or two-person thing. Journalism takes a team. It’s also about learning to take the feedback and embrace the community.

To read more articles from The Puma Press, click here.