Impromptu. Oration. Extemporaneous. Prose. Informative. To most people, these words either seem like a foreign language or something highly educational and therefore boring. However, to forensicators, these are just the different events they choose to compete in throughout the season.
Many students competing in forensics are also debaters. This gives them an edge to their competition level when the next season rolls around in November. Although both require research and good public speaking skills, there is more involved in preparing for competitions each week than just staring at a laptop screen and writing out speeches.
“Lots and lots of practice and peer evaluation,” said Aswathi Pradeep, senior debater and forensic competitor, “and a lot of research,” are what makes a successful forensics season.
Pradeep has been involved in forensics for two years in order to improve her debate seasons. Coach Jared Zuckerman is a huge help to all of the students competing. He has coached for a total of six years, three of those as a head coach.
With Zuckerman as the coach, Pradeep has high hopes for her fellow peers. Some of those hopes are, “that the program grows immensely,” and that “there is a strong leadership on whom to rely on.”