Speaking up for myself by Kaleb

Speaking up for myself by Kaleb - August 2023 Scholarship Essay

My first year of high school began and I barely started to make connections with the students. Near the end of my summer orientation, I was approached by a senior on the school’s debate team. He introduced me to the team’s captain, who probed and identified my potential in me. Despite having minimal experience as a debater, I was determined to achieve the quick-on-your-feet nature of the debate club officers who spotted me and to showcase my recruitment would not disappoint. I perceived the upperclassmen as mentors and friends with a shared interest, with whom I could learn their perspectives while researching our cases or debating topics of environment and social justice.
What the senior saw in me was most likely the qualities common in scholars that I needed to hone. During the summer orientation, the incoming class of similar-minded, hard-working students was delegated into cohorts. Within these cohorts, we were again divided into small groups of three to four people to create a presentation on findings regarding climate change and present them to each other. Although everyone was covering the same general information, it was up to the group to determine how they would distinguish themselves from each other. My group needed to have the most creative imagination to apply to the presentation thus making them uneasy about presenting the whole project. I took it upon myself to lead the direction of the presentation and give my best speech to capture my peers’ attention and introduce our findings enthusiastically.
Three years after joining the debate team, I was selected for the position of the person who took me in previously held - Vice President. In this role, I have the chance to continue the legacy of the debate club. As more members joined every year, I taught them what I practiced from my prior tutors: encouraging them to use the power of their voices. What the juniors and seniors noticed in me on the first day of practice, I had now seen in my underclassmen. Taking my experience from the debate club, I’d be able to theorize and adapt from mentors and contribute after their absence to a new generation. Using what my upperclassmen taught me, I am no more confident in formulating lessons and presenting them to an audience.
While my team and the club overall garnered major success in tournaments, winning trophies for placing top three and making it to the city-wide tournament, we found our greatest win to be shared in our personal growth and the growth of newcomers. Seeing how our team inspired and taught the inexperienced members indirectly through our performance assured me that the new teams would continue to grow and develop the team in my absence. I felt my hard work not only paid off for me and helped to encourage others in my league.
I believe that the biggest achievement during my educational journey was what I gained from being in the debate club. Each subsequent year I would be thrust into a new role where I would be pushed outside of my comfort zone. From developing an untapped potential to transferring my knowledge in ways that would be easy to comprehend to those that were inexperienced like I was before, I was becoming more familiar with peer learning and teaching what I have learned. To be able to take my skills and inspire those who may not have the confidence to become great speakers with a knowledgeable character culminates as my proudest milestone in education.

Throughout college and further into my career, I will continuously collaborate with others, be it mentors or peers. To support the vital system that is the healthcare and hospital setting, I hope to continue to motivate my community, outside of school, pursue a passion and strengthen my strong life skills from debate. I intend to take that ability of public speaking and utilize it in close settings. Whether it be speaking as a representative of a team or relaying my point of view in a seminar, I desire to use the oratorical skills I have developed to show an audience their messages should be heard. Through my kindness and drive to begin new projects when others feel lost, I can emulate the work that role models in communities have maintained. With my voice, I hope my fellow peers and followers are inspired to take action or look at issues in another way - a driving way.