“Sir, can we get some beverage service?” When I first joined forensics as a nervous freshman, I would never have thought to find myself uttering these words in an annoyingly exaggerated valley girl accent in front of an audience of my high school peers. Alternating rapidly between this valley girl and a posh British woman, I performed my piece–a chaotic interpretation of Dave Berry’s The Avenging Flight Attendant of Doom–one final time in the Solo Acting finals of the SAS Puxi Forensics Invitational.
But just an hour prior, I was fiercely championing human rights alongside my debate partner, Ellie, in a heated parliamentary debate regarding weak democracies and effective authoritarianism. An hour later, I delivered an impromptu speech about assigning blame to society, referencing When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin. The best part was that I was not alone. Nearly every member of our Forensics team had managed to advance to the finals, beating out talented competitors in all six events. By the end of the day, our team claimed 15 medals, took gold in four events, and won first place overall. To say we were ecstatic was an understatement. With our medals clanging against each other, the bus ride back to school was filled with laughter and cheer.
Oddly enough, this forensics invitational was the first in-person tournament that anyone on our team had ever attended. I had spent my freshman and sophomore years training with my coaches, but the closest I had ever gotten to a normal forensics competition was a virtual event against one other school. In those years, I looked up to the upperclassmen, all of whom have now graduated, who showed me what forensics was: a competition of confidence, creativity, and critical thinking. I have grown immensely in my ability to articulate my thoughts, draw on my experiences, and overcome the fear of judgment. Ironically, being literally judged–sometimes for saying silly things like in Solo Acting–is what it took to not only find my voice but to feel empowered by it.
As a co-captain with Ellie and Winston this year, I was still constantly inspired by my teammates, who are now mostly younger than I am. Their fresh perspectives and unmatched wittiness showed me a hopeful future for Concordia forensics. The coaches too, who are always supportive, have created an atmosphere where forensics, with all its intellectuality and craziness, can mold us into brilliant speakers.
Written by Bennett Tung