National Forensic League Champion in San Gabriel

By SHEL SEGAL
Just graduating Gabrielino High School, San Gabriel resident Jenny Vuong is already an esteemed member of the NFL.
No, not the football league. Vuong recently became a champion orator of the National Forensic League at the national competition held in Birmingham, Alabama.
What’s even more remarkable is that Vuong came to this country just eight years ago with her family from Vietnam not speaking a word of English.
“When I came over my parents told me to watch a lot of the American shows on TV, so that helped me,” she said.
But she is careful not to forget her Vietnamese abilities.
“My parents speak to me in Vietnamese so I don’t forget,” said Vuong, who will be attending the University of California, Irvine in the fall and hope to one day become a biology professor.
Competing as a champion speech giver was tough work and required a lot of her time, Vuong said.
“Basically, you have to write a speech on a problem in society,” she said. “It has to do with morals. Then you write two 10-minute speeches about that problem, memorize it and then you deliver it at a competition.”
There are levels of competition leading to the national level, she said, starting at the local level and progressing forward from there.
Each district in the country then sends its top three students to the national level, she said. At that competition, which is several days long, there are 250 competitive orators.
“It was a lot of work,” Vuong said. “We started working more than a year ago in the local competitions. There were three preliminary rounds. Then there’s the next level, then the semifinals and then the finals.”
Attending the finals across the country, though, was a big treat and a wonderful payoff for putting in all the hard work, Vuong said.
“That was actually the coolest part,” Vuong said about getting to go to Alabama. “We met a lot of different people. I talked to last year’s champion. Being in that circle of people really empowers you that you can change the world.”
As each student selects his or her own topic, Vuong said she came across hers in a round-about way.
“When I was researching my speech I was going to do it on why we should give people second chances,” said Vuong, whose older sister is currently attending UCLA. “But in my research the evidence was the opposite. In this age we’ve become so reliant on second chances we don’t want to give our best effort the first time anymore.
“Everyone’s going to need a second chance. We’re going to mess up somewhere. But when we start relying on it that’s the problem.”
However, Vuong said she is very happy to have won this competition, no matter if it was her first chance or not.
“I’m proud I can achieve this,” she said.
(Shel Segal can be reached at ssegal@beaconmedianews.com).

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