I'm writing this as I prepare for my first speech tournament of the spring semester, which will be taking place in St. Louis, Missouri, at Webster University. I'm pretty excited, because I have never been to St. Louis. I'm also ready to get back into the swing of competition. Although this activity brings stress, it is also very rewarding. Since our team could seriously use some recruiting (and maybe your school needs it too), I have several reasons why you should try forensics.

1. Education

You can learn so many things in this activity that can help you with your education. Obviously, it will help you with your public speaking classes. The activity can help you with writing, speaking, and presenting, and not just in public speaking classes. It will help you for events and anytime in classes where you have to present something. Besides helping you with speaking, it broadens your knowledge. You will hear various speeches and pieces about many topics, some you haven't heard of or didn't know much about before.

2. Awareness

Speaking of various topics, you can make yours anything from current events, disease, oppression, or a cause that you find worthy. Not only do you learn about these issues, but you can use your platform to speak on an issue close to home for you. You can make others aware of the issue(s) you're passionate about, as you also become aware of others. You can even include hand outs according to your speech in order to invite fellow competitors to take a part in your cause.

3. Skills

The skills you learn in forensics help you become a better speaker, of course. You also learn skills such as critical thinking, writing (or cutting, if you do interpretation events), professionalism, and confidence. Rosetta Stone explains that these important skills learned in forensics can even help you with getting a job. Employers want someone who is confident, hard working, and professional.

4. Work Ethic

You learn how to work really hard with this activity. After all, if you want to win trophies, you do have to actually work for it. Even if you don't win all the time (or at all), you still have to put in a lot of time and effort into memorizing speeches, working on your interpretation characters, adding to your extent file, and learning how to expand your debate arguments and explanations. It is a lot of hard work to go to tournaments every weekend (or every other weekend) and compete. This type of activity is one where you have to keep on your toes if you really want to win, but one where to also have to work hard to do it correctly.

5. Travel

One of my favorite things about forensics is the traveling. Tournaments happen all over the U.S., so you aren't restricted to your state. It's a trip for serious competition, but there may also be some room for fun, depending on your coach(es). You might get to go sight seeing, and you will get to try different foods that you probably don't have in your state. Of course, be aware of the weather in that location, and pack accordingly. The climate could be extremely different than what you're used to.

6. Meeting New People

This activity definitely helps you make friends. If you compete in the same area and events every weekend, you get to know your fellow competitors. This can lead to friendships that last. If you're lucky, like my assistant coach, you could even meet your future spouse through the activity.

7. Overcome Speaking Anxiety

The main reason people avoid an activity like this is because they have anxiety with public speaking. This activity will help you overcome this fear, because when you perform multiple times, that fear gets minimized.

8. Handling Criticism

Ballots can be the most helpful tools in this activity. They help you improve your work. In this activity, you learn the importance of constructive criticism, and how to respond to it. You can receive constructive criticism in other places like work or school, and it's important to learn how to respond to this.

9. Odds of Graduation Increases

Getting involved in any type of school activity can help you become more aware of what's happening on your campus. Students who participate in extracurricular activities are more likely to graduate.

10. Potential Financial Support for School

If you are in certain clubs, they provide scholarships, which can depend on what their rules and qualifications are in order to get one. Most forensics teams provide scholarships for students. This can help them pay for schooling. However, this depends on the team.

With all the benefits from forensics, I highly suggest looking into it. You might find it to be something that you love doing.