On Saturday, October 29th, the University School Speech Team had a strong start to the season at Edison High School in Milan, Ohio. In his first tournament of the year, Speech Captain Rahul Jagetia finished in 3rd place in International Extemporaneous Speech at the tournament. Despite only being a junior, Rahul is an excellent leader who has had terrific competitive success in the past. In fact, this is the first year the Speech Team has had a captain. Indeed, Rahul has worked to build the Speech Team from the ground up since his freshmen year, establishing the resources needed to organize the team with the help of Dr. Manea, the Speech team’s previous coach. Rahul has been working with the Speech team over the last month to prepare them for the season, and he believes that this will be the best year yet for the Speech team. He predicts that he and his fellow competitors will bring in several trophies and qualify many students to the State Tournament at the end of the year.
Currently, there are 10 bright and hardworking minds on the Speech team. Notably, Rahul Jagetia had a solid start to the season, placing among the top six competitors in International Extemporaneous Speech. International Extemporaneous Speech is an event where students must prepare a 7-minute impromptu speech on current international events. For instance, topics last year included the Ebola Crisis and ISIS. Students only have 30 minutes to organize a speech after being given a topic at the tournament. This makes the event very rigorous, for students must do extensive research before the tournaments on a variety of topics in order to prepare for any and all topics assigned to them at tournament rounds. Furthermore, the speeches given must be memorized, meaning competitors must be well versed in speech writing, memorization, and speech delivery in order to be successful. Speech Captain Rahul and Ashwin are veterans at this event, having competed in the event their freshmen and sophomore year. Rahul believes that this year will be a tremendous success for the International Extemporaneous Speech program.
In addition to International Extemporaneous Speech, the University Speech Team competes in Declamation. In this event, students deliver famous speeches from history. Popular speeches delivered in this category include The Gettysburg Address, Washington’s Farewell Address, and Thomas Jefferson’s Farewell Address. While this event might seem easy, do not be fooled. In order to impress judges, students must deliver their speeches with their own unique interpretation on the tone and meaning.
Lastly, the University School Speech Team competes in Informative Speaking. Notably competitors in this event are seniors Rohan Garg and Neil Sehgal. In this event, competitors draft original 10-minute speeches on any expository topic or idea. These speeches must have a purpose, however, and can’t just ramble on about extraneous topics such as time, bees, or thyme. Generally, these speeches aim to inform the judge about an issue or topic that the competitor might find interesting. The wide range of topics available in this event challenge competitors to find a niche and specialize.
The University School Speech Team has a bright future in regards to the upcoming Speech season. Freshman Tharoon Balaji stated that the main reason for the team’s expected success is the efficiency of Speech Captain Rahul Jagetia, finding Rahul as a “father figure” that is always helpful and supportive. Indeed, Rahul has implemented a new strategy this year, taking it upon himself to read, review, and edit every single speech composed by students on the team.
“Rahul is a tyrant, but a tyrant that I respect.”
Sophomore Graham Thomas corroborates, stating that Rahul brings a “unique energy” to the team, “psyching us up during practice and cracking jokes to make us laugh.” Further, sophomore Tim Sullivan states, “Rahul is a tyrant, but a tyrant that I respect.” Finally, Rohan Garg and Neil Sehgal compliment Rahul for his “approachable nature and clear articulation in explaining the different events” to the new recruits. Indeed, Rahul is the “quintessential captain that will guide the team to victory,” Neil said.
