The last speech
Emily Forster’s passion for public speaking comes to an end.
By Miranda Weippert | Royal Report
Emily Forster strides through the hallway at Rush City Middle School on a Friday afternoon, headed toward her fifth hour study hall class. Teacher Mindy Lattimore, who also happened to be in charge of the speech team, paced towards her to, trying yet again to convince her to join the team.
“Emily, I really think you would enjoy the speech team. It will open up many doors for you. Just give it a shot and if you don’t like it, I will never ask you to come out and try again,” Lattimore said.
Forster caved into the gray haired woman. She would do anything to just be left alone. Anything to make Lattimore stop barraging her. As Lattimore walked away with a huge grin, Forster instantly started questioning her decision. Who knew that six short years later — Forster would be smiling at the podium winning first place in Poetry at Nationals with Bethel University.
Forster considered herself a quiet and shy seventh grader that didn’t have many friends. She struggled with self-confidence. She felt unheard at both her school and her home. She just wanted to be a normal teenage girl in seventh grade, but knew that wasn’t in the cards for her.
“Why did I agree to speak publically if I can barely speak in the first place,” Forster asked herself.
Saturday morning brought the last tournament for Rush City’s speech team, where Forster would be speaking in front of people for the first time. The people she spoke to wouldn’t be just anyone. She spoke in front of judges, who would be criticizing the way she spoke and how she looked while doing so.
The naturally lit classroom was dead silent. The clack clack of other speakers’ heels reverberated in her head with each step they took. As she listened to speech after speech she tangled and untangled her fingers, fidgeting in her nervousness.
“Next!” One of the judges yelled.
This was it. Forster’s moment to shine — her moment to speak — her moment to be heard. Her moment to finally be noticed! She rose from her chair, leaving behind a wet outline of her hands. Walking to the podium her legs shook uncontrollably. Though her heart pounded like an African drum, she heard the voice in her head saying “I can do this.”
She stood in the front of the microphone and began her speech, ‘Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.’
Her voice quivered, hands and feet sweaty as if she had just run ten miles. What felt like hours had only been a few minutes. After her speech she walked back to her chair and sat down with a sigh of relief, her heart beginning to beat its normal pace again.
Today, Forster is a sophomore at Bethel University and although she has been a part of the forensics team for two years, she’s excitedly preparing for her last speech tournament.
Bethel’s forensics team traveled to Point Loma Nazarene — a liberal arts university in San Diego, California — for the 19 Christian College Nationals March 4–8. Overall, the team placed second in Limited Entry Division III and placed third in Medium Entry Division II. A division refers to how big or small the teams are and how many events they will be competing in. This gives smaller teams a fair chance of winning.
“While schools like Gustavus focus more on doing things in a specific way to be perfect and win, Bethel focuses more on community and transferable speaking skills that can help you within your major.” — Emily Forster, sophomore
Forster however, placed first in her third round of Poetry and fifth in Readers’ Theater, Philosophy For Children For Me (P4C4Me).
“While schools like Gustavus focus more on doing things in a specific way to be perfect and win, Bethel focuses more on community and transferable speaking skills that can help you within your major,” Forster said. “It’s not that we aren’t good — many individuals on the team placed, we just don’t have our main focus be winning. There is so much more to it than winning a trophy. Although, the glass trophy is pretty awesome.”
Forensic teams from Christian colleges all over competed all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. While taking a big chunk of the students’ time in California, it didn’t stop them from enjoying a day at the beach for some fun in the sun. They also stopped in at the famous In-N-Out Burger after Sunday’s competition, filling the fast-food restaurant with burger fanatics in business-formal attire.
“I still enjoy speech, but I just don’t think it’s necessary for me anymore and it’s no longer my passion.” Emily said. “Looking back I see how much it shaped me and how much it helped me grow. Speech was not only a way to help me open up and gain self-confidence. It was a way for me to be heard. And that’s something I never felt before.”
