TWO young Griffith girls have been rewarded for their gift of the gab as they both placed at the ‘Rostrum Voice of Youth’ state public speaking competition.
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Megan Beecher from Marian Catholic College won the senior division of the competition and will go on to nationals, while Emily Adamson from Wade High School placed third in the junior competition.
‘Rostrum Voice of Youth’ is a student development program open to high school students from all over Australia in which 3000 students compete in every year.
The multi-talented Megan had just come off a week participating as a pianist in the school’s Grease production when she competed at the state level and said she hadn’t had time to catch her breath, let alone be nervous before speaking
“I just took a breath and did what I had to,” she said.
The 17-year-old spoke on the topic ‘the road to recovery’, something she said she was passionate about. “I spoke on mental health in rural communities, it’s something I have an interest in and it is something that needs to be addressed,” she said.
“Adequate mental health services are essential and everyone needs to realise their importance because ultimately everyone is affected by it in one way or another at some time in their life.”
For Emily, speaking at the competition in Yass was a great opportunity to practice for next year’s event and for her future. “It was great practice, and I will compete again,” she said.
The pint sized participant has big ambitions for which skills in public speaking will undoubtedly be an asset. “I would probably like to be a linguist in the army in the future,” she said. “I am learning Mandarin at school and I would really like a career that lets me put that to use.”
Carmel La Rocca encouraged other youth in the Griffith area to compete in the competition, which she said was beneficial for all who were involved.
“It’s a national competition so you have the opportunity to win a national title which is huge, not only that but the experience they get from competing outside of Griffith is invaluable,” she said. “You can see a change in participants every year they compete, they seem to become more confident and able to understand a bigger picture of the world and it’s effects.”
Ms La Rocca said she had been blown away with the way the girls had expressed their opinions. “I am extremely proud of the girls, especially Megan – this was the second year she has won the state competition and she will now go on to nationals at the end of July which is amazing. Their performances really showed the high level of research they had done and showcased their potential for the future.”
