Draft 2 by Gabriel

“Here you go, here are your five topics. Pick one for your speech, and let me know so I can start your prep time.” A teacher said to me. I was in the middle of my very first round of the Rock Round ISD UIL, with me competing in the Impromptu Speech category.

 Making it to this point was an arduous process. I had to go through an exhaustive tryout process with my middle school theater teacher. It took me almost two months to just make it onto the exclusive two-person team, and from that point on, I trained almost every day before school to be sure that I was ready for the competition.

 I left aside my feelings and honed in on the topics that I had been. My eyes read over the first two without a glance. The third was something that piqued my interest ever so slightly, but not enough for me to give an entire speech on it. At last, I came to my fifth and final topic, “Reading and writing.”

 The questions were all open-ended, as the competition was about what was in the speeches, not so much how well they answered the questions. The words immediately formed in my head, “Reading and writing are my favorite because…” I had a strong base for the opening, and in the rest of my precious fifteen minutes, I got to work finding three reasons why reading and writing were my favorite, and explanations for them as well.

 “Ok, first speakers, that is your time up. Please head to your rooms and good luck!” The teacher from before was saying. I looked up, surprised to see that the time had gone so quickly. I looked back down to my notecard, filled with black scribbles that chronicled all of my notes and thoughts about reading and writing. I stood up and went to the room.

 I spent my whole walk there reciting my speech in my head, going over my introduction, my main points, and so on. I couldn’t practice as much as I would’ve liked to have done so, but considering I only had a 2-minute walk ahead of me, anything would be helpful for my speech.

 I walked into the room and immediately saw the judges. There was only a singular woman, possibly a parent, sitting at a table in the back of the desolate classroom. She consulted her sheet, and said, “Gabriel,” the judge looked at her sheet before she continued speaking as if her eyes had deceived her. “Para?” the woman said hesitantly. Not many people know how to pronounce my last name, and this woman was another of the dozens who would never.

 “Parra, yes, Gabriel Parra, that’s me,” I responded, not allowing a hint of sass creep out.

 “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. May I please have your question slip?” The woman asked. I handed her my slip, trying to not let my handshake too much from nerves. The judge wrote it down on paper afterward.“You may start whenever you want to,” She said in a calm tone and a smile on her face. She was trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible.

 I went to the front of the room, took a deep breath, and let the words come out. “Reading and writing are my favorite activities because they let us be more than who we are. We can be on a different planet, a different time, or even a different thing, yet still, be on the planet Earth. Reading and writing let us communicate our feelings and thoughts to one another, something that is priceless. And reading and writing let us view the world from a different perspective, not just our own.”

 The words rang true with my experiences. I let myself go, elaborated on everything and anything. I let the judge enter my world, a world of an author, and enjoyed myself. Seven minutes felt too short, and the time limit came all too quickly for me.

 “Well Gabriel, that was a fantastic speech! Excellent job!” The woman said, joy spilling out of her voice as she smiled broadly at me.

 I was proud of myself and excited for what was to come. Those thoughts would have to wait, however, as another competitor of mine entered the room. I sat down at a desk as if this were a normal school day, not a major speaking competition. I reflected on my speech, and let myself sink into the world of words...

 An hour later I was in the cafeteria, the waiting room for the competitors. I was waiting anxiously with my teammate and my classmates, hoping for the best. We came and went as our respective competitions called for us. I talked with my teammate about our speeches, what we did well, what we could’ve fixed if we could make it to the final round. It was the nervous talk one would expect out of a competition or major event.

 My theater teacher approached me and my friend, and my heart raced off. What would she say? Would I be knocked out of the tournament already? Would I pass the finals? My agony was cut shortly after that, however.

 “Well, the results have just arrived, and good news: You’re both into the finals!” My theater teacher said to us gleefully.

 I was ecstatic at the news. I was so worried that I would not make it past the opening round, and here I was.

 “Gabriel, you made it through in first place by some margin, first in the entire opening round, good job!” My teacher said to me with a smile on her face. It was clear that she was fighting hard to hide how truly happy she was as to not make my teammate feel undervalued.

 This was much more than I had expected, and was something that I was extremely proud of.

 About fifteen minutes later, I was whisked away to the judging room for the final round, and once again, I was picked first.

 I made the trek back to the questioning room, hoping for a good draw of questions again. My wish could not have been fulfilled better.

 I had the usual slog of initial questions that I didn’t want to answer. But then, my third question was the golden ticket. Violent video games. This was the one topic that I had always been denouncing, and to me, this was the perfect way to clinch the win for the tournament.

 Even before I started my prep time, my mind was thinking about all the different facts about violent video games and their effects. How they weren’t safe for kids. How it made it harder to distinguish between real life and video games. On and on until I had around seven points, which I whittled down to five, then three. It was an arduous process, but one that in the end, proved to be fortuitous. I had three strong reasons as to why violent video games were bad, a good introduction, and by applying what I did in my first round, I had an excellent chance at winning the tournament.

 I entered the judging room shortly thereafter, and I found myself not nervous, but excited to get my speech started. I was raring to go, and the moment I was allowed to speak, I found myself speaking only seconds after I was allowed to.

 “Violent video games. We’ve all heard of them, and they’re only on the rise for teens. But are there any hidden consequences? I say that there are, and for three good reasons…” I began with a knowing tone, trying to teach my audience about the dangers of video games.

 After another hour, after all the speeches, and after waiting in the cafeteria again, I was finally approached by my theater teacher for one last time.

 “Well, good news, you two, the final results came in.” My teacher began. I could feel the tense up, and my friends around me quiet down to listen in.

 “Gabriel, congratulations, you got first place!”

 All around me, my classmates engulfed me in claps and congratulations, hugs, and high fives. It was all that I had been wanting, and now I had it.

 I texted my dad to come to pick me up shortly after that. He asked me what had happened, and I told him the great news. His words still fuel me and love me every single day.

 “I always knew you could do it. Your mother and I are very proud of you. You’ll go far in speech.”

 It’s these words that I choose to take with me every day, and every time I go into a speech competition now, I remember the day my speaking career began, and the love I have for it now.

Draft 3 by Gabriel

“Here you go. Here are your five topics. Pick one for your speech, and let me know so I can start your prep time.” A teacher said to me. I was in the middle of my very first round of the RR ISD UIL competition, with me competing in the Impromptu Speech category.

 Making it to this point was an arduous process. I went through a tryout process with my theater teacher, which took almost two months to be one of two people on the speech team. From that point on, I trained frequently before school to make myself ready for competition.

 Sitting in that room, my eyes read over the first two questions, but neither interested me. The third was something that piqued my interest slightly, but not enough for a speech. At last, I came to my fifth and final topic, “Reading and writing.”

 The words immediately formed in my head, “Reading and writing are my favorite…” I had a sound idea for the introduction, and in the rest of my precious fifteen minutes, I found three reasons ‌reading and writing were my favorite, and explanations.

 “Ok, first speakers, that is your time. Please head to your rooms and good luck!” the proctor was saying. I looked back at my notecard, filled with notes that chronicled all of my notes and thoughts about reading and writing. I stood up and left the room.

 I spent my walk practicing my speech mentally. I went over my introduction, my points, and so on. I couldn’t practice as much as I would’ve liked to have done so, but what little time I had helped.

 I walked into the room and I saw a singular woman, possibly a parent, sitting at a table in the back of the classroom. She consulted her sheet, and said, “Gabriel,” as the judge looked back at her sheet before she continued speaking as if her eyes had deceived her. “Para?” the woman said hesitantly.

 “Parra, yes, Gabriel Parra, that’s me,” I responded. I didn’t allow a hint of sass to creep out.

 “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. May I please have your question slip?” The woman asked. I handed her my paper slip, trying to not let nerves rattle me too much. The judge wrote it down on paper afterward.“You may start whenever you want to,” she said in a calm tone and a smile on her face.

 I went to the front of the room, took a deep breath, and let the words come out. “Reading and writing are my favorite activities because they let us be more than who we are. We can be on a different planet, a different time, or even a different being, yet still, be on the planet Earth. Reading and writing let us communicate our feelings and thoughts to one another, something that is priceless. And reading and writing let us view the world from a different perspective, not just our own.”

 “Well, Gabriel, that was a fantastic speech! Excellent job!” The woman said as she beamed at me. Seven minutes had gone by in a flash, but I showed the judge a slice of my world.

 I was proud of myself and excited for more. Those thoughts would have to wait, however, as another competitor of mine entered the room. I sat down at a desk and let myself sink into the world of words...

 An hour later I was in the cafeteria, the waiting room for the competitors. I was waiting anxiously with my friends, hoping for the best. We came and went as our competitions called for us. I talked about my speeches, what we did well, what we could’ve fixed, and more. It was the nervous talk one would expect during a competition/.

 My theater teacher approached me and my friend, and my heart raced off. What would she say? Would I get knocked out of the tournament already? Would I pass the finals? My agony ended shortly after that, however.

 “Well, the results have just arrived, and good news: You’re both into the finals!” My theater teacher said to us gleefully.

 I was ecstatic at the news. I was so worried that I would not make it past the opening round, and here I was.

 “Gabriel, you made it through in first place by some margin, first in the entire opening round. Good job!” My teacher said to me with a smile on her face. She was fighting hard to hide how truly happy she was as to not make my teammate feel undervalued.

 This was much more than I had expected and was something that I was extremely proud of.

 About fifteen minutes later, I went back to the judging room for the final round. Once my competitors and I got situated, we got our speaking order. Once again, I had the luck to speak first.

 I made the trek back to the questioning room, hoping for a good draw of questions again. There was no better way for my wish to be answered.

 I had the usual slog of questions ‌I didn’t want to answer. But then, my third question was the golden ticket. Violent video games. This was the one topic that I had always been denouncing, and to me, this was the perfect way to clinch the win for the tournament.

 Even before I started my prep time, my mind was thinking about all the different facts about violent video games and their effects. How they weren’t safe for kids. How it made it harder to distinguish between real life and video games. On and on until I had around seven points, which I whittled down to five, then three. It was an arduous process, but one that‌ proved to be fortuitous. I had three powerful reasons ‌violent video games were bad, an excellent introduction, and by applying what I did in my first round, I had an excellent chance at winning the tournament.

 I entered the judging room shortly thereafter, and I found myself not nervous, but excited to get my speech started. I was raring to go, and the moment I could speak, I spoke only seconds after I could.

 “Violent video games. We’ve all heard of them, and they’re only on the rise for teens. But are there any hidden consequences? I say that there are, and for three good reasons…” I began with a knowing tone, trying to teach my audience about the dangers of video games.

 After another hour, after all the speeches, and after waiting in the cafeteria again, my theater teacher finally approached me for one last time.

 “Well, good news, you two, the final results came in.” My teacher began. I could feel the tense up, and my friends around me quiet down to listen in.

 “Gabriel, congratulations, you got first place!”

 All around me, my classmates engulfed me in claps and congratulations, hugs, and high fives. It was all that I had been wanting, and now I had it.

 I texted my dad to come to pick me up shortly after that. He asked me what had happened, and I told him the glorious news. His words still fuel me and love me every single day.

 “I always knew you could do it. Your mother and I are very proud of you. You’ll go far in speech.”

 It’s these words that I choose to take with me every day, and every time I go into a speech competition now, I remember the day my speaking career began, and the love I have for it now.