To bring home trophies from competition feels great, but knowing that those trophies count on going toward nationals is an even greater feeling. Miguel Porfirio, team captain of the Vocal Vikings, will compete in Costa Mesa, California, from April 1-10 in a national competition known as Phi Rho Pi. Porfirio will be competing in POI, prose, impromptu and poetry.
“After all this hard work, I can’t believe it’s finally paying off,” Porfirio said.
For Porfirio this is a milestone after working hard at each tournament to bring back points that got him a position for nationals. At nationals, Porfirio will have the opportunity to compete against other community college students from around the U.S. The competitors will compete in speech events such as prose, poetry, POI, informative and persuasive speeches but also in debate events such as Parli debate and Lincoln-Douglas.
Many students would not like to miss a week of class because of the risk of falling behind, but being able to compete on the national stage is a risk worth taking.
“This moment is super surreal. I went from not being able to speak English to going and competing against the best in the nation in a speech and debate tournament,” Porfirio said.
