Forensics team students crammed into the Manzanita Hall at CSU Northridge, anxiously awaiting the results of the rounds of the final day’s competitions. Among these intellectually stimulated contestants was Noelle Anderson, a 4th year and a member of the forensics team at Moorpark College.
Two years prior, as a Communications and Child Development student, Anderson found herself in a class which is only offered every couple of years with teacher, August Benassi. “I just randomly took it and he really wanted me to join [the team] so this is now my second year,” said Anderson.
Participants of the 2013 Robert Barbera Invitational Speech and Debate Competition, which took place at California State University at Northridge, were students like Noelle, from all over the United States. They were striving to compete what they’ve practiced over the previous months.
During the awards, the room followed a protocol normal to the competitors. “We only clap once after each name, until the 3rd place and then when the 1st place winner is announced we stand for an ongoing applause,” said Nathan Travis, 19.
This competition was held over a 3-day time period, and was presented by the CSUN Speech and Debate Team, the Department of Communication Studies, and the Mike Curb College of Arts Media and Communication at CSU-Northridge.
The competitors and judges came from schools as far as Houston, Texas. University of Houston Main Campus, University of Utah, and Arizona State University were those schools located outside of California.
“I’ve been working on these [competing] pieces since the beginning of the year,” said Anderson. The hard work showed for her and the entire team. Noelle Anderson placed 4th in both the Open Prose and the Open Prog-Oral-Interpretation competitions. She also placed 2nd alongside her partner, Megan Harvey, in the Open Dramatic-Duo competition.
Professor and forensics team coach, Neal Stewart, commented on the overall performance and achievements of the Moorpark College Team.
“The team did wonderful, we did great,” said Stewart. He also went on to explain that the team won the sweeps, which are the team awards, in the debate, speech and combined sides. Although there is a community college and a 4-year division for awards, Moorpark College won the overall, beating out schools like Long Beach State.
“The places and the rankings just makes me want to work harder,” said Anderson, “It’s something I’m really passionate about, I’m not passionate about many things so it means a lot to me.”
The pieces that were used in competition on Sunday will be used in the State and National competitions, which are set for March and April.
