Give Youth a Voice

Imagine a desire so powerful it constricts the soul.

First, picture a room - larger than life itself. The walls are black. The floor, which is covered in hundreds of white fold-up chairs, is the hard, murky brown of convention centers and basements. There is a stage at the center of this huge room. Blue theater lights are splayed across it and the tables that are resting towards the back of it, as well as the black curtains draped behind these tables. Upon the tables, huge silver trophies rest, engraved with pinstripes like the suits that wealthy men wear.  People are flowing in to the room like the flood that both destroyed and saved everything. You are waiting behind that stage, heart racing, peering stealthily at this scene. You are wearing that pinstripe suit with a red, white, and blue ribbon pinned to it, hiding behind these illuminated curtains. You are awake, but dreaming.

This is a scene that every speech & debate member dreams of. It's the stage that students from all around the United States will perform on if they make the national finals. You have to be in the top 14 in the nation to get on that stage. Before they get here, though, they need to get to nationals. Before they get to nationals, they have to be one of the top two debaters in their district (our school's district is ALL of Southern California). Before they get to the district tournament, they have to be one of the top competitors on their team. Before they get there, they have to practice and compete to perfect themselves. Eat, drink, sleep, and breathe speech and debate. It's tough, really tough, to even get one of these steps done.

Our school has actually gotten to all of these points except standing upon this stage. Last year, though, we got close. I was in the top 35 debaters in all of the United States - 21 people away from that stage. Sarah J. (a sophomore then, now a junior) was in the top 60. Out of the over 300 kids that qualify to nationals in each event, out of the thousands upon thousands that compete to qualify - we were that close. This year, we both get another shot, and we are both better than before. Two other students from our school also qualified.

Unfortunately, things get complicated after qualifying. For our team to go to nationals, it will cost each student over $1,200 to go. I am going to be blunt and say that financially, it's impossible for me to go without help. Last year, I got to go because a company donated the money necessary for me to go. This year, the economy seems worse and no business has been willing to donate for me to go thus far. So, my team started a fundraiser with The National Forensics League (the speech and debate honors society) which has a really amazing website called Give Youth A Voice that allows individuals, organizations, and businesses to make tax deductible donations directly to our team. They will send donors receipts and thank you notes with information regarding the tax deductions after they have submitted a donation. Our page is as follows: http://giveyouthavoice.org/fundraiser/los-osos-high-school-speech-debate


If every single student in our school donates $1 to our team, we will have nearly met our goal. If most donated $1 and a few donated $5 or $10, we would be set. We need this help, really, really badly. Things are going slowly, and sometimes if feels like the people we ask are just plain ignoring us. This, I must say, is really painful. $1 is not much to ask for, neither is $5 or $10 - most people pay more than that daily for lunch. If you don't want to donate through this site (although the site is the only way to get a tax deduction) you can directly donate to myself or Mr. Pielstick, we have a jar that we're keeping physical donations in.


Please, assist us and donate. Ask your parents to help if you can't personally donate, especially if any of your parents own businesses that are looking for some tax exemptions. Post this on your facebook, share it with your friends who do not have this class. Most of you guys know me. You know that speech and debate is my life. I would give anything up just to go to this tournament again. People say that begging is bad, dishonorable, and rude. I disagree. We are desperate for help. Imagine a desire so powerful it constricts the soul. Then, realize that that is what this is and more. I want to stand on that stage before I graduate. Please help make it possible.