Let's Talk About AFA Prep

 Howdy! This week I write to you all from the skies as we are on our way to the American Forensics Association National Speech Tournament (AFA). We are 30,000 feet in the air flying to Santa Anna, California. Since being back from Japan, we haven't stopped working and coaching our events in preparation for our final two tournaments of the season. So let's get into what preparing for AFA looks like. 

The Last Showcase 

Every year before AFA, BUST hosts our Night Before Nationals Showcase. This is a great opportunity to showcase our events to the campus and practice using a big space (Neumiller Hall) to see how we need to adapt from our normal speaking space - classrooms. At nationals, your rounds could be anywhere from a Janitor's closet to a ginormous lecture hall, so you have to be prepared for any environment. Night Before Nationals also allows our comedic speeches to test out new jokes and get live audience reactions. This year I performed DUO Interpretation with my amazing partner Joshua Timmons. Josh and I have had such a fun time working on this piece together and have both grown so much as performers. Duo has been one of my favorite events since I started doing it in middle school. I love duo for the collaboration aspect! Being able to know there is another person by your side in rounds is an indescribable feeling! I'm so thankful that Josh is my last duo partner because he has been such a joy to work with! Josh has one of the most creative minds and an almost super-human sixth sense for speech. 

The 66

Another way we prepare for AFA is "The 66" this is a set of three nights where every event going to AFA preforms for the team. The name comes from the fact that AFA has an event cap of 66 speeches per team. While this seems like a lot, each team member going is taking an average of 4 events per person, so it adds up quickly! This year we are taking about 49 events, which is great for our team of mostly underclassmen. Our first and second years have put in such an incredible amount of work and continue to rise to every challenge thrown their way. I am so proud to be a senior with this stellar group of newcomers. Their energy to learn gives me energy to keep growing, even at my "old age" that they love to remind me of. The 66 is the best way for us to see every event that will be competing, so we can cheer our teammates on from the start. Because everyone has so many places to be during the day, it's rare to see teammates in rounds, so this allows us to encourage everyone on their hard work. 

The Final Coaching Sessions 

While showcases and The 66 are the main ways we prepare, we also try to have one final coaching session on each of our events, just to work out any last kinks or tweak anything that we feel could be beneficial. I was lucky enough to have 2 final sessions with some of our incredible BUST alumni: Cassie Edlund (2020) and Adam Sharples-Brooks (2008). Cassie and I worked on my Dramatic Interpretation while Adam and I coached my Prose. Both sessions were wildly helpful and helped me gain some inside knowledge to how a judge might see my performances. BUST is wildly fortunate to have such a strong alumni base with a wealth of knowledge and a wide range of skills. 

As the plane continues to fly closer and closer to Orange County, I can feel all my nerves grow stronger. However, I can also feel my excitement growing too. Nationals is such a celebration of performance and this activity that I love so much. Sad it's coming to an end, but grateful for all it has been! 

Talk soon!