This year, the RBHS Speech Team sent Elona Selenica down to state. Selenica has been practicing speech ever since she was a little girl.

“I was really shy as a kid and I just wanted to put myself out there. My sister and I joined speech together and I stuck with it. I really liked it,” said Selenica.

Selenica is part of the humorous interpretation event. She chooses her script and then makes it humorous for the audience.

“I had been practicing my piece since October,” said Selenica.

The team has about two practices every week and they critique each other on their pieces. During every tournament, Selenica has her own routine before competing.

“I usually walk around the school and look into my rooms. I run my piece one more time before I go into my round. It’s the only thing that keeps me calm. It’s the little tradition that I do that helps make sure I’m in the zone,” said Selenica.

Selenica wanted to make sure she did her best when approaching the state competition.

“I had been practicing my piece almost every day. I talked to my coaches every day. I asked some of my teammates for advice. I always looked for improvement and I made sure I applied all those changes,” said Selenica.

Overall, Selenica was very content with her final performance. She placed 10th out of 19 participants for state.

“I did fairly well. I did not break [make it to final rounds], but I gave it my best. I had the audience engaged; they were laughing along. That’s all I really wanted to accomplish,” said Selenica.