From Jan. 9-11, four seniors on the Gabrielino Speech and Debate Team traveled to Arizona State University to compete at the Arizona State Hugh Downs School of Human Communication Invitational. This tournament was exclusively for seniors, giving the graduating class a unique opportunity to experience an out-of-state competition.
Unlike typical league tournaments, this invitational gave competitors the opportunity to experiment with their speeches while observing new events and styles.
Seniors and co-captains Natalia San Lucas and Carter Mak both competed in Extemporaneous Speaking, an event in which competitors create a new seven-minute speech each round with only 30 minutes to prepare. San Lucas and Mak competed in this event because they are passionate about learning and educating others on global and domestic politics.
While this event is typically separated into International Extemporaneous and United States Extemporaneous, the categories were combined for this invitational. San Lucas placed third overall, and Mak earned the title of Tournament Champion in Extemporaneous Speaking.
San Lucas and Mak spent the weeks leading up to the tournament preparing for Arizona State University. “During the week of ASU, I was working with the people in my speech period. I was doing drills with them, and I gave a speech the day before,” San Lucas said.
“I did a lot of coaching sessions with alumni, and we helped each other while we were there by giving suggestions on how to improve,” Mak said.
With such an exclusive tournament, competitors were both nervous and excited for the opportunity. “I felt a little nervous, as I do with any tournament. I really just want to make the most of every opportunity I get,” San Lucas said. “But I was also really excited. I wanted to have fun, enjoy the questions and enjoy giving speeches.”
Being out of state, competitors were excited to see what was new and different outside of league competitions.
“The tournament was in Arizona, so I got to see speakers from there that I have never seen before. I thought that was really special because I got to watch new speeches and interact with people I had never met before,” San Lucas said.
At invitationals, competitors were also encouraged to branch out from their usual events. Senior and co-captain Owen Dowell competed in three events, two of which he had never done before.
Dowell advanced to the octofinals of Original Oratory, the quarterfinals of Humorous Interpretation and the semifinals of Dramatic Interpretation.
“I was really surprised that I advanced in events I had never done before, but I did not go in with any expectations. I just wanted to perform fun speeches,” Dowell said.
While triple-entered, Dowell performed three times per round. “It was a really nice adventure because it was back-to-back rounds. At other invitationals, I would normally be tired between rounds,” Dowell said. “I genuinely did not have time to be tired, so I was bringing energy every round because of that.”
While the Arizona State Invitational was the first tournament in which Dowell performed his interpretation speeches, he plans to continue improving them for future invitationals.
Overall, the seniors had a successful tournament and hope the seniors-only tradition will continue. They plan to carry the lessons they learned, the performances that inspired them and the memories they made into future competitions.
