Rocky’s speech and debate team puts in a lot of hard work into perfecting their skills, so that when the time comes, they are successful for whatever challenges come their way. One of these students in particular is a junior here at Rocky Mountain High School, named is Hafsah Mohammed. Mohammed puts in so much hard work and time into speech and debate. So much so, that she has the achievements to show for it.

Hafsah has been involved with the speech and debate team for three years, and she has a ton of insight on how she balances it with her normal academic life.

Mohammed explains, “For me, how I balance doing speech and debate is that I know that it is a time-consuming club. Off the bat, I know that most of the time my weekends are going to be scheduled. It just comes down to having clear communication with your team and with your friends. It’s also important to know when to lock in and when to prioritize, because at the end of the day, If I have the most perfect cases and the most perfect speeches, but am on the F list, I can’t compete in anything. So, it is important to be able to prioritize and know how much time and energy to put in to it and into life in general.”

Being on the speech and debate team proves to be very time-consuming yet a rewarding activity. You must figure out how to balance your school life by being prepared for whatever you’re going to be debating on.

On a different note, when asked about her favorite parts of being on speech and debate, Mohammed added, “My favorite memory is when I went freshman year, I made it to state speech, which was crazy. Then, low and behold, this little freshman makes it to semifinals in the event where she thought she was getting nowhere.”

Mohammed shared another one of her favorite memories that happened later, saying, “Another favorite memory was, in sophomore year, to take first in the first speech tournament of the season. At the first tournament, I managed to sweep the whole tournament, win gold, and take first place in that speaking event. And it was crazy because I thought it would take me so much longer to get there and then I proceeded to get second in the state for that event later. That year.”

Being on the speech and debate team proves to be quite a commitment and so much hard and dedicated work, but Hafsah proves that she recognizes that and goes on to surprise even herself with her work.

Though being in speech and debate is a memorable experience in her high school years, Hafsah was asked about her later life and if she would go on to use these skills in a future career. Mohammed answered, “I’m not going into law, politics, or anything that is directly tied to what I’m doing in a future job. However, I do already work with a lot of organizations that are civically involved. And it does require me to have a certain amount of outreach, and I do have to speak on a lot of things, but not for my future career.” She went on to elaborate on her experience on the team and how she would use the things she has learned, reporting, “I’ve spoken on panels for the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, I’ve been PR trained, and the ability to articulate your thoughts clearly while being able to connect with  a layman audience is an important skill you are going to use beyond speech and debate. Skills like communication, analysis, and critical thinking, are skills that you’re going to need in life, regardless of what job you go into.”

Hafsah has proven that she is very well versed in how this team works and what it takes to succeed. She spoke previously about how communication with her team is so important and that it is a vital part of her success.

Emma Atkinson, a junior and one of her teammates, was asked about Hafsah’s contribution to the team, saying, “She’s apart of leadership, which is amazing, and we love her very much and very dearly. Honestly, she puts in a lot of effort to try and make the team a fun environment, and she also puts a lot of effort on her side to make sure competition-wise is successful. So, with team bonding and all, she’s your gal.”

Another member of the speech and debate team, sophomore Taylor Sandy, added, “She’s really good at making sure that new people to the team feel very welcomed and very okay in this activity because it can be very scary to be new. And she’s really good at making people feel like they’re doing well and happy.”