Legend of Gator Greatness at High Profile Competitions

Raised voices and questioning tones are familiar sounds for anyone who’s battled at a speech competition; the harsh attacks can’t be handled by most. Led by Mrs. Couch and chemistry teacher Zach Nelson, North Star speech has always been the epitome of Gator education and passion; with junior Hadila Abdalla a prime example. 

Abdalla is an outspoken, passionate, and charming individual with no hesitance to speak her mind. These qualities transfer directly to speech in competition, and as a teammate in a leadership manner. “We’re doing pretty well this year – we’ve already qualified two people for nationals.” The state qualifications aren’t much of a surprise, considering the consistent top 5 placements in disciplines from a lengthy list of orators. 

Abdalla tends to place well in Duo, feeding off of her teammates’ energy and working with them smoothly. She can compete and place with anyone she partners with, proving her a worthy adversary for any school or partnership. The first national qualifier of this season was Junior Baraah Abdalla; a speech on intersectional feminism found her in second place out of 93 forensicators at a meet at Lincoln High. In previous years, a triage of current seniors have found their way to NIETOC nationals – Rylee Lieske, Mabruka Mamude, and Reyce Usher.

The greatness unfolding these few weeks is coined by Hadila Abdalla as “the peak of our season.” State is on the horizon, and all of the athletes are looking to make their own runs and create legacies in Kearney come May. It’s easy to look at state results and deem that the official gauge for the season, but how incompetent that would be. Scores don’t tell all of the story – friendships, memories, challenge; even growth and progress made over the season could be neglected by just looking at numbers. 

State and nationals are easy to look at and get caught up in, and rightfully so. There’s a very established legend of Gator greatness at these high profile competitions, and that trend looks to continue this year. However, the real beauty of speech isn’t in medals and ribbons; it’s in speaking thoughts that have always been swallowed down, even while trembling. The motley array of speakers from North Star strive to that beauty daily, and display it incredibly at the big contests. There’s something different about a Gator at the podium.