Abby Koelpin is a senior that has had some good times on the speech team over the years. Even though speech does take some work, she still enjoys it. Abby said that at the beginning of the season this year she couldn’t have ever imagined how much fun the team would have together. Abby did a great job this season and was very happy to go to the state speech meet for her first time this year.
The state
speech meet was on Saturday April 20th. Abby had worked hard all
season to finally get a chance to go to state. Abby told the Charger that she
was very nervous at the section meet, because there was still an opportunity to
go onto the next level, but at state, she knew it was the end so she was less
nervous. Abby’s speech was called “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address,” which
is in a competition category called “Great Speeches.” Abby analyzed how the
speech is put together and then she recited Lincoln quotes that she had
memorized. The format of a state speech meet is the same as a regular meet, but
more people attend the state meet. Abby said “The biggest surprise for me was
that across the state there are differences between how the categories are
judged. There were some speakers who were very talented, but did things in
their speeches that are frowned upon in our area. However, in their area those
things are considered acceptable.” When the Charger asked Abby what the most
memorable part of the state speech meet was, she replied, “In my 3rd
round, the director of the Minnesota State High School League, Dave Stead,
happened to stop in and watch me. Of all the rooms and categories that he could
have popped into, I was very honored that he chose to watch ‘Great Speeches.’ I
ended up getting my best score in that round too.” Abby competed against 23
competitors. She did not make it to the final round of 8 competitors but she did
tie for 9th place (so close!!!).
Abby said,
“To the student body, speech isn’t so bad, consider giving it a try. There is
no better activity for preparing yourself for life in the ‘real world’ and also
for gaining the confidence to share your faith with others.” Abby is obviously
very passionate about Speech! If you see her in the hallway, tell her
congratulations on her great speech achievements. Way to go, Abby!
