After a long season of speech, filled with much work and much dedication from each and every speaker, the GHS speech team has successfully made it to state with their largest team yet! Liliana Asta ‘26, Justin Lin ‘28, and Seven Smith ‘28 successfully placed top three in their events, landing them spots at the state competition at the Peoria Civic Center on 2/20/21. Asta placed third in Oratorical Declamation, along with placing third in Humorous Duet Acting with Smith, and Lin placed second in Extemporaneous Speaking.
When the announcements came, the competitors were very excited. “I was shocked and filled with extreme joy. I was so surprised that all my hard work actually ended up paying off,” said Asta. Asta is a senior on the team, having competed four years (two years in Special Occasion Speaking and two years in Oratorical Declamation and two in Humorous Duet Acting), and is the only competitor this year and in speech history to be double entered for the state competition, meaning she’ll compete in two events in Peoria.
“I was utterly flabbergasted to say the least. To find out we made it to state and beat out such good competition left me at a loss for words,” said Smith. This is Smith’s second year on the speech team, both years competing in Humorous Duet Acting and Original Comedy, his other event. He is one of two sophomores to be the first to go to state since Coach Susan Bookless has been in charge.
Despite initial excitement, the team still has a lot of work to do to prepare for the state competition. “I’ve been keeping up with a lot of current events to prepare for the tournament. Studying up on political and global topics is crucial to my event, so I’ve been making sure I feel ready for the competition,” said Lin. This is Lin’s second year on the team, having done Extemporaneous Speaking both years and picked up his second event, Special Occasion Speaking, this year. He is the second sophomore out of two to be the first to go to state.
Bookless has also been making preparations for the tournament. “I’ve had a lot of paperwork to do to get everything organized,” she said. “Getting the hotel rooms, transportation, funds for food, and planning the sendoff have all been major preparations that have been made for the competition, along with helping the competitors and making sure they feel ready to go for the competition.”
Even though the pressure is on for the speakers, they are nevertheless still very excited for the tournament. “I’m so excited to go to Peoria and experience a competition of this scale for the first time. It’ll be a super fun experience,” said Smith. Along with the competition, other aspects of it are proving to be very exciting for the students. “I cannot wait to take advantage of the free food. It’s gonna be so much fun,” said Lin. And overall, the team will get to spend one last hoorah together before they say goodbye to their senior competitor, Liliana Asta, before she graduates. “I’m looking forward to hanging out with my friends, and being able to compete with them again before the season’s over,” she said. “It’ll be so much fun, and I know we’re all going to do great out there.”
