Tucker, both from Meriden, were duo partners since freshmen year of high school and they came to HCC for a visit and were awarded a scholarship. Not only were students gratified by trophies at tournaments but they also benefitted from their forensics experience in many other ways. “It helps me a lot with academic. I use things a lot that I learn within my different speech topics for academics and projects that I do with my honors classes. We always have extra projects to do and I always tie that back to something I’ve done in forensics. So it really helps my knowledge base in all areas not only with economics but also with psychology, sociology, and history. I get to use all of those aspects between forensics and academics,” Hill said. Students’ communication abilities and thought processes were also improved through forensics. “I am able to understand communication now, on so many more levels and much deeper than I could one year ago. It has opened my eyes and ears to more possibilities in terms of the human capacity for learning and growth than I ever dreamed possible,” Wagler said, “Travis and Kenny make a point of engaging the team on every level of intellectual stimulation. The environment here is bursting with ideas, and potentiality, and analysis, and rational thought. I adore the way the community is messagefocused in every way. Ideas matter, and here they are given not only a voice, but a hearing. Continued on page 27
In his After Dinner Speech, Dyllan Hodson, Anthony, describes how geography isn’t emphasized in the education system and the resulting problems. In this type of speech, an important topic was chosen and its finer points and deeper meaning were highlighted through humor. Photo By Hannah Wallace Jessica Wood, Lyons, and Tagan Trahoon, Emporia, perform a Dramatic Duo. Dramatic Duos were the only event to feature two people and they were not allowed to look at each other or touch during the course of the presentation. Photo Illustration by Hannah Wallace
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