The LHS Speech and Debate team has been consistently successful in competitions. LHS Junior Elianajoy Volin, a captain of the team, is one of Speech and Debate’s most successful competitors. She joined speech and debate her freshman year, because she loved poetry and performing. She was supported by the upperclassmen she knew on the team, and soon got hooked. She quickly rose to become one of the most talented members of the Speech and Debate team, placing 12th in the state competition her freshman year!
Outside of Speech and Debate, Volin is still a very active LHS student. She participates in choir, theatre and cross country. She is the president and founder of the LHS Girl Up club, and is on SPEAK, the LPS mental health board. Volin also loves synchronized swimming and volunteering.
Returning back to Speech and Debate, Volin’s star event is poetry. “I have a 10 minute memorized piece of published poetry, with a 1-minute introduction that I wrote. This year, my piece is about healing and resilience and includes poems by Mary Oliver and Rupi Kaur,” said Volin.
Just like previous years, she has soared ahead and placed well in many competitions. This year, she has gotten first place in three competitions, third place in two competitions and made it to finals a few other times.
All of this has made Volin a valuable and successful team member, but she (as well as all of the team) is looking forward to the biggest event of all— the state competition. As stated earlier, Volin placed 12th at state her freshman year. She also qualified for state during her sophomore year, but that competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking forward, Volin is definitely considering continuing her love for performance in college. She wants to participate in Speech and Debate and/or theatre. She may not pursue a career related to Speech and Debate, but she believes her skills will help her in the real world.
“While there isn’t much of a career in reciting poetry, I think participating in speech and debate has given me much more confidence in public speaking, and I will use that skill for the rest of my life, in whatever I do,” said Volin.
She highly recommends that people enjoy Speech and Debate if they are interested, because she loves the community. She states that the community around her is extremely supportive, and she loves watching other people perform their pieces.
“I love speech and debate! I really enjoy reading different poems and finding the perfect ones to use in my piece, and then deciding how to weave them all together in a way that is most cohesive and impactful. And I love performing my piece, speaking out on issues that are important to me, and seeing how my words can move people,” said Volin.
If you are interested, she said the best way to get involved was to talk to the team captains, such as Mr. Saliman, Ms. D or even her.
State qualifying for Speech and Debate is on March 5 and 6, and State competitions are on March 19 and 20. Good luck to Elianajoy Volin and all of Speech and Debate!