When I was in high school, I was heavily involved in speech and debate. Now that I am at university, I am no longer competing in speech and debate, but I'm involved in coaching high school speech and debate. In the state of Nebraska, high school speech season is beginning this upcoming weekend, and I'm very excited to see how my high school team will shape up this year. Now that I'm done with speech, let me tell you some very important things I learned along the way.

Doing the thing most people fear can actually be pretty fun.

Getting up and speaking in front of an audience is terrifying at first, but once you get into it, the audience gets into it too. It gives you an adrenaline rush to realize that everyone is listening to you intently and actually wants to hear what you have to say. There will be times where you go up to the front of the room and your mind draws a blank, or you stumble over every other word. But that happens to everyone. Nine times out of ten, it helps you put yourself out there and have your thoughts be known.

You learn to think on your feet.

I competed in an event called extemporaneous speaking, where I was given thirty minutes to prepare a speech on a current events topic. It's not easy to make a coherent speech in thirty minutes, so oftentimes you have to come up with your ideas and let the words come on the fly. Being able to think on your feet helps with presentations and interviews. It also helps you become better at talking to people, especially those you've just met for the first time (something you'll be doing a lot in college!).

You figure out what you're passionate about.

Before forensics, I never read the news and I never analyzed differing opinions and ideas. Forensics pushed me to develop my own opinions based on information I was given, take a stance, and argue for it. Moreover, as a young person voting next week, I now know what issues I'm passionate about and can educate other people my age about my stances. Forensics is a place for people who care.

You make some pretty awesome friends.

Everyone who does speech has something in common - they want to speak about something. That can attract all different types of people. Through speech, you make friends with people you never thought you would be friends with before. And those friends will stay with you beyond your years of high school speech. The same goes with your coaches too - they're not only your speech coaches, they're your life coaches, they're your teachers, they're your second set of parents.

You learn to cope with failure, and be humble when successful.

Since forensics is a very subjective activity, you can very easily be on top of the world and in the deepest abysses in a very short period of time. Sometimes your work will get you into finals, sometimes it won't. In forensics I learned to take failure bravely and be happy when my teammates and competitors do well. Learning to be a good competitor is a life skill that will take you far beyond high school.

Hard work really does pay off.

Everyone who makes national finals starts off as a timid novice with a shaky voice. Every state champion started out with a first line. With practice, determination, and stamina, you will get stronger and louder. Your skills grow, and you grow too.

To all my forensicators out there, I wish you the best of luck this season. Make sure your heels are high, your ties are snazzy, your warm-ups are loud, and that your rounds are yours. Make this season the best one you've ever had.