Every year, teams across the Southern California Debate League attend Knott’s Berry Farm Speech and Debate Day. The Gabrielino Screamin’ Eagles attend each year, giving attendees a special experience and unforgettable memories.
For Gabrielino students, this trip gave attendees the opportunity to bond with teammates. For freshman Macey San Filippo, this trip was a new and unique experience.
“I really got to talk with some of the seniors who are graduating,” San Filippo said. “I was able to bond with my event leaders outside of just practice or competitions.”
This was San Filippo’s first year attending the Knott’s trip.
“I expected it to be really fun, and it definitely matched my expectations,” San Filippo said.
Starting at 3 p.m., students had two hours to perform, and about a dozen students got to perform on the stage. Because there were many schools in the league attending, each school had a student volunteer give a speech.
“But the speeches surprised me. They were different, especially the improv speeches,” San Filippo said.
For junior Trenton Nam, he sees Knott’s Day as a rewarding experience, with this event being at the end of the Speech and Debate season.
“This is one of the few times during this season where you can fully relax and just hang out with your teammates,” Nam said. “It’s really rewarding because of the high stakes and stress from the year, and this trip honestly just feels like a reward.”
For Nam, it’s more than just a rewarding experience. From this trip, he’s made memories and connected with his own speech.
“We went shopping for gifts and souvenirs. I came across this pigeon toy, which is really related to my speech topic, so I bought it as a memento,” Nam said. “This is definitely an activity that you must do at least once in your speech career.”
This trip gives students the opportunity to showcase their speeches to an audience, but it also gives attendees an opportunity to watch new speeches.
“The speeches were kind of interesting, and it was cool to see what other schools are up to,” Nam said.
For senior Natalia San Lucas, this is her last year attending Knott’s Day. She reflects on both her speech career and Knott’s experience over the years.
“I’ve attended Knott’s Day all four years, and logistically, nothing has changed,” San Lucas said. “However, personally, I think that over the years, my own experience has changed in terms of bonding because I was really able to grow closer with my teammates and have more fun each year.”
As a team captain, San Lucas believes that the bonding experience is one of the most important aspects of Knott’s Day.
“It’s a special day because it allows us to bond and have fun outside of this stress that can sometimes be associated with speech,” San Lucas said. “We take an effort to bond both inside and outside of the competition; it just makes this team closer together and really ties together the great experience of being on this team.”
From freshmen to seniors, Knott’s Berry Farm Speech and Debate Day brought memories and a fun experience to attendees.
