Student Excels In Speech And Debate

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Alexus Brock, a senior at McDonald County High School, is president of the speech and debate team and has won the Big 8 Conference for speech and debate for the past four years.
RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Alexus Brock, a senior at McDonald County High School, is president of the speech and debate team and has won the Big 8 Conference for speech and debate for the past four years.

McDonald County High School senior Alexus Brock has learned the importance of her voice through speech and debate.

She is president of the high school's speech and debate team and won the Big 8 Conference for speech and debate for the past four years.

She said, "It's really cool because conference is where we represent our school."

Brock said she spends two hours a day preparing for speech and debate, even during the summer, because she goes to events during the summer.

"I'm in a lot of clubs. Speech and debate takes a lot of preparation. You're constantly looking at evidence and watching the news," she said. "You have to be very well-spoken. On top of all the studying that I'm already doing, speaking and communication skills are very important."

She has debated topics such as whether or not in public colleges and universities you're given freedom of speech and whether or not you have a right to housing as a citizen of the United States. She has spoken on issues like nuclear energy and nuclear proliferation.

"I have to be updated on everything that's going on in politics, everything that's going on in the United States," she said.

Brock continued, "My entire team has had the same motto every year -- 'loqui vel vinci' -- which translates 'speak or be conquered.' That's something I really believe in. Your voice is something that everybody has. I have learned that no matter how hard things get in my life, my voice is something that will carry me, and I cannot take it for granted."

She plans on studying law and possibly pairing that with journalism during her undergraduate work.

Brock said, "I've had so many goals with debate. I've gone to state twice. I went to national once. Those were goals I had set for myself. But I came to the realization that those goals were not really what fulfilled me. It's when I get to speak in front of my community. Medals and plaques and trophies are fun ... but the fact that people care enough to listen instead of just recognizing me shows me that our voices have so much importance in the world."

General News on 04/13/2017